The Stark Legacy
by shadowphoenix55
Summary: Tony Stark thinks his legacy will be destroying the world. Hate to break it to you, Stark, but you created something with the potential to destroy a lot more - me. Watch out, father. My name is Xania Maximoff, and I am out for revenge. Father/Daughter relationship Loki/OC, sibling relationship Wanda/Pietro/OC. OFF hiatus!
1. To Swear Revenge

Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** This story will include content from Age of Ultron to Avengers: Endgame, but the story will change more and more along the way. Updates will come slowly at first, but there will be times where I have a break and can go on a multi-chapter run in a few days. Please review, and, if you have any suggestions, I might include them. Here's the Prologue for the Stark Legacy:

(Updated for edits 5/14/19)

**Prologue - To Swear Revenge**

It was dark. The trees were nearly bare in the little town outside of Sokovia, and a fall chill was sweeping through it slowly. A lantern placed inside a closed window barely lit the streets, but did so enough that a small girl could be seen trekking through the breeze in only rags that were a shadow of what were clothes before. The girl had long, black hair and eyes which, filled with desire and hunger, flicked to the lantern in the window. She pressed her hand up against the glass as if she could feel the flame, closing her eyes and sighing with longing.

About fifteen feet behind her, hidden behind a bench, crouched two curious twins. They'd first come to see if they could steal something off the little girl, but could now see that she didn't have a thing other then her rags. The twins watched the girl as she opened her eyes again and dropped her hand, turning around in a blur. The two twins watched, horrified, as they was a large woman step out of the shadows, her fat hand encircling the girl's arm.

"You look _looost_, little girl." The woman said, her voice a sing-song, "Gimme some money and I'll let you _goooo_."

The girl said nothing, attempting to pull away but failing. Wanda moved to help but was stopped by what happened next.

"Or I'll just get it from your parents." The woman sneered, "In exchange for _yooouuu_."

"Fat chance of that." The girl replied, her tone devoid of life, "They don't care if I die or not."

And in a flash, the girl lashed out, striking the larger woman on her nose. The fat lady stumbled back, cursing, as the little girl dashed down an alley and out of sight.

"You take care of the woman." The girl-twin, who had red hair, spoke to the boy, "I'll go after the little girl."

The two raced off. The redhead dashed into the alley where the little girl went and spotted a foot rounding the corner. Girl-twin pumped her legs as fast as she could, but the younger girl was too fast for her. Panting and heaving, the red haired twin slowed. Finally, she simply called out between breaths;

"Wait! Please! I - come - to - help."

There was a pause in the running footsteps and two pairs of blue eyes peered out from around the corner of a trash can. The redhead was startled by how empty the eyes looked; it was as if her eyes were once electric blue and sparkling, but now they were empty and almost a whitish blue.

"And why would you want to help me?" The voice of the eyes asked. The redhead twin was startled at how emotionless the other girl's voice sounded, but quickly reminded herself that she had been like that a time not too long ago in the past.

"Because I was in your position, once." The twin explained, "I heard you say that your parents don't care. Well, mine did, but they were killed four years ago. I was ten. So was my brother."

The pair of eyes watched.

"We've had to survive without them for awhile, now." The redhead continued, "We live on the streets, and it's hard enough with two of us. I can't imagine being alone."

"It's hard." The little girl said, "But I've always been alone, really. Even when my mother let me live with her, I was still alone."

"I'm sorry." The older girl replied honestly. The blue-eyed one laughed. It wasn't a happy laugh, it was empty; as empty as her voice and her eyes that seemed to maybe have once been truly beautiful.

"They used to say that a lot." The younger said after she stopped laughing (rather evilly), "It doesn't mean a thing."

The older girl struggled for words.

"I mean I'm _actually _sorry." She tried to explain, "I wish that you could have happiness. I wish nothing bad ever happened to you."

"A lot of good wishing does." The younger girl said, but she came out from behind the alley wall. The girl-twin had no reply, but edged closer to the younger as if approaching a scared animal.

"I used to feel so alone." The twin suddenly explained, "So unwanted; so uncared for. But I realized that I had Pietro, my brother, and that I was not alone."

The other girl said nothing, staring at her feet. The twin got closer.

"Maybe all you need is a friend." The older girl continued, and the younger looked up, something sparking in her eyes, "Maybe I can be that friend."

"But you don't know me." The little girl said, emotion finally seeping into her voice; sadness, tinged with a bit of hope.

"I feel like I do." The older replied confidently, "You remind me so much of myself. We have… a bond, maybe? Sisterhood? Tell me now, will you hurt me? Betray me? My brother?"

The girl with electric-blue eyes stared at Wanda Maximoff and said could honestly agree.

_Three weeks later_

Three small figures huddled around a small fire in the darkness of an alley. Around them, barely visible, were three makeshift beds made out of hay and a basket. As the firelight flickered, the redhead reached back and grabbed the basket.

"Time to eat." The redhead said, "Xania, you're first."

The littlest of the three grinned at the redhead, taking about a half a loaf of bread from the basket out and breaking a third off for herself. She held out the rest of the loaf to the older boy sitting next to his twin; Pietro Maximoff.

"Thank you, Xania." Pietro, who at first didn't like the idea of someone else joining them, said warmly to the littlest of the trio. Xania smiled and Pietro passed the bread to his twin sister, Wanda. Wanda took the last piece and all three started eating, savoring the taste of good bread.

"So, Xania." Pietro said after a while, "You haven't told us your story yet."

Xania froze.

"You-you haven't either." She managed to stammer out, "Not fully, at least."

"Then we'll go first if you go after." Wanda told her, "Promise?"

Xania slowly nodded, as if she was dreading what was to come.

"We were having dinner with our parents when the first shell hit the roof." Pietro explianes, his tone low, "It hit two floors down. Made a hole. Our parents fell in. I grabbed Wanda and pulled her under the bed. When the dust cleared, our parents were dead."

Xania sucked in a breath, eyes wide.

"And, beside the bed? A second shell labeled _Stark_." Pietro continued, his voice shaking in anger as he stared into the fire, "We waited to die. Nothing happened. We waited hours and hours until we realized that it wasn't going to explode."

He looked up to see Xania and Wanda holding onto each other like lifelines.

"We swore revenge on Stark." Pietro said, and there was a silence.

"I'm - I'm sorry." Xania mumbled quietly, now fully understanding what those words meant. Fear seeped into her demeanor, but she still straightened and opened her mouth.

"My mother was the one to raise me." Xania started, "Well, if you could call it that. I went to a public school; I walked there by myself. I went alone to the shopping mall when I needed new clothes - mind you, I only had twenty five dollars a year for them." Wanda and Pietro didn't know what dollars were, but they got the gist of what Xania was saying, "If I needed her, mother was gone. If I didn't - well, she wasn't there to help anyways."

Xania took a deep breath.

"I never liked mother, and she never really liked me. We just minded our own business and didn't spend time together. The only thing I would ask her, really, was about my father. She wouldn't say anything except that he was horrible and a drunk."

The Maximoff twins looked on the small girl with pity.

"That was the only thing we agreed on, really." Xania said, "Father. I hate him for not caring for me; for not even checking up on me to see if I was okay. I didn't know his name. Mother would never tell me. We fought over that a lot."

Another deep breath, and a nervous glance at the twins.

"One day, she told me we were going on a trip, so I should pack my things." Xania said, "I didn't have much, but what I did I shoved into by backpack and we were off. I thought that mother was finally being nice. We took a plane, and she talked to me and played games the entire way. When we landed, she told me to grab my stuff and a basket and get off the plane to see where we were. I did as she said, still so happy. When I got outside, I realized that we were in the middle of nowhere. I looked back to ask my mother if there had been a mistake only to see the plane moving away. I backed up, frightened, as it took off, mother still inside and looking away, without me."

Wanda gasped.

"I was seven." Xania muttered, "I guess she felt a little guilty, because when I looked inside of the basket to see enough food to last me a week and a note. Do you know what it said?" Xania gave out a merciless laugh, "One word. It was the answer to my biggest question. It said _Stark_."

This time, both Maximoff twins gasped.

"Yes." Xania finished, "I'm a Stark. Father's _the _Tony Stark. I sold most of my stuff after that in the nearest town - 50 miles from here - in exchange for food. Now, two years later, I'm just scavenging and swearing revenge on my father and mother."

Her eyes were haunted as she said in a meek voice; "Please don't kill me."

There was a silence.

"No." Pietro finally said, his voice so strong that both girls turned to look, "You're not a Stark; at least, not a Stark any longer."

"Welcome to the family, Xania Maximoff."


	2. HYDRA

Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Chapter Four will include the Avengers. Please review, and, if you have any suggestions, I might include them. Here's Chapter One of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter One - HYDRA**

_Four years later _

"Pietro, watch out!" Xania Maximoff called out to her older brother, who managed to dodge a large brick that was thrown at him by one of the soldiers. She glared at the soldier who had done the deed and rushed at him. He was looking in the other direction, and by the time he spotted Xania, she was already in the air. She landed on top of the man with a thud, digging her nails in as she dragged him down. The soldier's head hit the road and he passed out, unconscious. Xania may have been ruthless, but she'd never killed and didn't plan to start. She looked back to call out to her brother but gasped instead. Pietro was still on the ground, and he wasn't moving to get up. She rushed over to him and knelt down as she saw that his head was bleeding.

"A bullet nicked me." Pietro breathed, "But it's for Sokovia, right?"

"For Sokovia." Xania said, "To drive out the Others."

The Others were what the Maximoffs and other participants of the riots called the foreign presence that invaded Sokovia. No one really knew their name, but they effectively turned Sokovia into even more of a war zone. The rioters wanted the Others out, so they rioted. Pietro was the one to convince his sisters to do it. That was a year ago.

"For Sokovia." Pietro breathed, looking up at the sky. Xania pulled his arms, dragging him to the side of the street, through the rubble and dirt.

"Nuh-uh, Pietro, you're not dying on me!" Xania shouted at him, ducking as another brick sailed above their heads. They made it to the alley just in time for the firing and screams to start. Xania closed her eyes so she wouldn't have to see all of those people slump to the ground, lifeless. They'd lost. _Again_.

"Wanda?" Pietro asked, his voice slurred, "Where's Wanda?"

Xania's eyes snapped open in fear.

"Wanda?" She said as loud as she could without the troops hearing her, "Wanda!"

"Shh, I'm here." Xania sighed in relief as her sister emerged from the shadows, dropping to her knees at the sight of Pietro.

"What happened?" She asked fearfully.

"A bullet nicked him in the head." Xania said, "He didn't tell me until he fell to the ground and couldn't get up."

"Pietro no…" Wanda started praying in Russian. Footfalls sounded.

"Wanda, we have to g-" was as far as Xania got before a tall man entered the alley. Xania and Wanda both stood protectively over their brother.

"I am not here to harm you." The man said, his Russian accent clear, "You are too talented for that, young Maximoffs."

Xania and Wanda did not move, eyes narrowing.

"Yes, I know who you are." The man said, "Do not fear. I can help you."

Xania backed away.

"I am from HYDRA." The man continued, "We have noticed your skill. And, young Xania, why don't you put down that brick."

Xania had grabbed a brick from the partially-decimated wall. She did not obey the man.

"Come on, you two, HYDRA is the only way your brother will survive." The man said. Wanda and Xania's eyes widened and flickered back to their bleeding brother. Pietro's eyes were staring up to the sky, unseeing, and there was a small pool of blood around his head, "What? Do you think you can fix him yourselves?"

Xania slowly placed the brick down.

"What do you want?" She snapped.

"HYDRA is looking for a group of talented individuals like yourself to… _enhance_." The man replied, "We'd give you powers in exchange for you working for our cause. We want to purify the world. The governments are corrupt; as you see here very clearly in Sokovia. We want to rid of people like Tony Stark and instead have a world of peace and prosperity."

Wanda and Xania exchanged a look.

"Heal him and we'll talk about it." Wanda finally said. Xania nodded in assent.

"Then come with me." The man said, turning, "I'm Doctor List, by the way."

Wanda took Pietro's arms and Xania took his legs. They stumbled forward a bit before Dr. List came back with a stretcher.

"Lift him up here." He said, and Wanda and Xania did so. They wheeled him out of the alley to see a large ambulance-like van. Dr. List put the stretcher in the back and told the two sisters to climb in. They did so, glancing back at the wreckage of the riot - all of the other rioters were dead, laying on the ground with bullet holes peppering their bodies. Blood stained the street, dripping down the sewage drain. The troops had left, leaving only bloody tracks and dead companions in their wake. Wanda covered Xania's eyes with her clammy hand.

"Don't look." She said quietly. Wanda waited until Dr. List shut the back doors to drop her hand. Xania immediately sat down to the right of the stretcher, looking at a twitching Pietro with fear in her gaze. Wanda sat beside Xania, taking ahold of her brother's cold hand. They sat in silence as the van's engine started. Dr. List opened a slot in the wall between the driver's seat and where the Maximoffs were, tossing back a large, whitish wrap.

"Wrap that around his wound." He shouted as the van moved forward. The doctor shut the slot and a loud siren started. Xania grabbed the wrap and started putting it around Pietro's head, being careful not to touch the still-bleeding wound. Wanda did nothing, simply staring at her brother, eyes devoid of happiness. Xania finished wrapping Pietro quickly but abit messily; it looked as if he had a rather oddly-shaped headband on. Wanda took one look at the wrap and started sobbing, leaning into her brothers body.

"Wanda?" Xania asked in what she hoped was a comforting tone. Her "sister" only cried louder, hugging Pietro's arm with all of her might.

"Pietro, wake up." Wanda said through her tears. Pietro didn't move. Wanda shook her brother's arm softly, "Pietro!"

Xania neared the Wanda, looking worried.

"Pietro wake up I need you Pietro please-"

"Wanda you have to stop-"

"Pietro! Pietro!" Wanda shouted, "Pietro!"

Xania got closer.

"Wanda, you're going to hur-"

"Pietro! PIETRO!"

Wanda was shaking her brothers arms so hard that Xania thought that it was going to fall off. The little girl made a split-second decision; as the van stopped, she launched herself at Wanda, knocking the girl to the side, away from her brother.

"Get off me!" Wanda screamed, failing under Xania's smaller body. Xania fought to keep the redhead on the ground but not hurt her.

The back door to the van opened and a group of people in white doctor's suits rushed in and grabbed ahold of the stretcher.

"NO!" Wanda shouted as they began to take Pietro out of the car, digging her fingernails into the side of Xania's back so hard that the flesh was pierced, "NO LET ME GO!"

She shoved Xania to the side and shakily stood up, making her way to the door only to be stopped my some of the doctors who had come back. They blocked her way. One doctor grabbed Wanda as she attempted to tear past him.

Xania realized that her arm hurt a lot. She looked down to see that a large metal object had fallen on it during the struggle. She attempted to push herself up yet failed. She vaguely recognized Wanda's shouts and her arm turning bright red before she passed out.

* * *

Xania's eyes fluttered open to a dark room. She sat up, realizing she was in a bed. Oh, goodness, how she'd missed a real bed in the years that had passed… instead of sitting up, Xania simply groped around for a light switch or a lamp, relaxing in the bed for a moment longer. Her fingers found a lamp rope and she pulled it. The room was filled with a dim light, which came from a lamp on a dresser between Xania's cot and another. She squinted and saw that Wanda was sleeping soundly in a cot beside her. Upon further inspection, she noticed that Wanda's pillow was damp. So was her face.

_Pietro_.

Xania jumped up to see if her brother was there as well. On the fourth wall, instead of finding another cot, she found just a modern light switch and a door. Xania fumbled around with it, but couldn't find the handle. After a minute, she dropped her left arm, which was feeling sore. She then remembered the metal object that had injured her.

"Xania?" Came Wanda's voice, sounding weak. The little girl came back to the beds and sat down next to Wanda, who hugged her and began crying.

"I'm sorry I was just scared for Pietro I didn't realize that I was hurting him and then I hurt you on accident I'm sorry are you okay-"

"I'm fine, Wanda." Xania cut in, "My arm's working. But… Pietro…?"

"He's still not totally healed, but they say that he's going to survive." Wanda replied to Xania's relief, swinging her legs down from the bed, "It's been about a day and a half. They took me here and gave me some books and games - I barely remember how to do either of those, actually. They fixed your arm before bringing you back here to sleep. They brought food, too. They gave me a lot and said it wasn't that much, it's just that we're used to the smaller portions… Doctor List told me that we'd all eventually be eating a lot more."

Xania shuffled her feet during her sister's rambling.

"Do they seem alright?" She asked her sister. Wanda stared off into space, before slowly nodding.

"I think the whole thing is suspicious, but they've been nothing but nice to us..." Wanda said, "And they healed the both of you."

Xania nodded again, feeling rather like a bobblehead.

"We'll talk about it with Pietro when he's healed." Xania added, "I mean, powers seem great and all, but I'm sensing a trick or something."

The two girls jumped as the door made a clicking sound and slowly swung open, a beam of bright light shining into the room and revealing a stack of books and games on the floor next to Xania's cot. A small girl with eerie reddish eyes stood in the doorway a serving tray in hand. She set the tray, filled with food, onto the floor and left, shutting the door behind her.

"Who..." Xania asked.

"She brought food last time as well." Wanda commented, standing up, turning the modern, brighter lights on, and carrying the tray over to the bed. Xania almost gasped at the heavenly smells that were coming off the tray. She looked to see a small piece of meat, portion of bread, and handful of carrots and… - broccoli, it was called? - for each of them.

"Wow." Xania breathed, bypassing the silverware that she'd long forgotten how to use and going straight for a carrot. She glanced at Wanda and handed it out to her. Wanda smiled, then, taking the carrot and giving Xania one of her own. That's how things in the Maximoff family worked; everyone shared, and everyone had to have something before anyone ate.

Wanda and Xania both bit into their carrots, sighing at the taste. After that, it was a devouring of the food. It was a wonder that neither of them choked. By the time they had almost finished all of the vegetables and bread, however, they were full.

"Doctor List said we have to eat it all." Wanda said, but Xania was already handing her a piece of meat. Wanda did the same, and for a moment, the two girls simply looked at the food that they hadn't had for years. Xania was the one who bit into hers first. She gasped at the juices that filled her mouth. She didn't take another bite, however, until Wanda did, wanting to share the experience with the only person she could call sister.

When their plates were completely clean, Wanda put the tray back by the door and picked up a small picture book. She sat by Xania again, but neither said anything, lost in thought.

"I wish Pietro was here." Wanda murmured quietly after a minute, leaning into her smaller sister and voicing both of their thoughts. Xania snuggled into Wanda's arm.

"Me too." She said, "But he will be soon."

Wanda smiled at that, and opened the picture book. On the first page was a picture of an apple and a large letter.

"Oh I remember that!" Xania cried, "That's _a_! For _apple_!"

Wanda's smile grew, and so did her sister's. They continued through the book. If anybody else had come in, they would have wondered why a 13 year old and a 18 year old were reminding each other of the letters of the alphabet, but the sisters wouldn't have cared. They were the Maximoffs, and they had been through a lot more than that.

"A, B, C, D, E, F, G..." Xania said to herself again, swinging her legs under the bed, "H, I, J, K..."

"L, M, N, O, P..." Wanda, who was practicing writing the letters with a shaky hand beside her, added.

"Q, R, S... T, U, V..." The two sisters chorused, "W, X... Y, and Z!"

"So can _I _try to write now?" Xania asked after a moment of catching her breath. Wanda nodded, hading the paper and pencil over. Xania took it in her hand, but it fell out.

"Here, try it this way." Wanda commented, placing the pencil back in Xania's hand. Xania gripped it tightly and began writing out the letter _a _next to where Wanda had wrote it. When she was finished, she admired her handiwork next to Wanda's.

"Yours is better." Xania said a bit dejectedly. Wanda laughed.

"That's because I'm older than you, silly." She said, and Xania smiled again. She began writing the letter _b_, but was interrupted by the door clicking. Both of the girls jumped, sending paper and pencil flying.

The red-eyed girl was standing in the doorway again. This time, she had no tray of food.

"Doctor List would like to see you." She said in a raspy voice, "Your brother is awake."

* * *

"Pietro!" Wanda shouted as she spotted her brother in the hospital bed. She carefully restrained herself from getting close enough to her twin that she could hug and possible hurt him. Pietro was attached to a few tubes and had had a clean, non-messy wrap around his head. He smiled weakly.

"Wanda." He said, looking at his twin sister with happiness, "Xania."

"Are you alright?" Xania asked, her voice sounding teary. Pietro gave her a small smile and a nod.

"Doctor List told me that I'll be fully healed in two days, and then I'll just feel sore for awhile." Pietro commented. "He also told me about the Enhancement."

Xania heard the capital letter. She looked around the room to see if anyone was there, but the girl with red eyes who had brought them had gone. So had the assistant doctor, who had left his stethoscope and other medical equipment behind. The three of them were alone to talk.

"I think we should do it." Pietro continued, "They're already treating you better - aren't they? They healed me, too. When we didn't even say that we'd help them."

Xania nodded a bit reluctantly. So did Wanda. They both didn't really like the idea of joining Doctor List and HYDRA - they both were distrustful of them.

"And we'll have _powers_." Pietro said dreamily, "So _this_," He gestured to his wound, "won't happen again."

Both girls flinched. That was a low blow; and Pietro knew it.

"But we'll have to work for them." Wanda said weakly, not sure how to continue after Pietro's comment, "We don't even know if they're good yet."

"From what I've heard from Doctor List, their cause aligns with ours." Pietro said, "Wanda, they _started _the riots. They're against Stark and people like him. They seek to make a better world."

Wanda and Xania were silent. It was very hard to argue with someone who was laying on a hospital bed.

"What if they're lying?" Xania asked quietly. Pietro's gaze slid over to her, and their gazes connected.

"Than we back out." Pietro replied after a moment of silence.

"The moment that we know?" Xania pressed. Pietro nodded.

"Then let's tell List." Wanda said, "We'll do it."


	3. The Enhancement

Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Chapter Four will include the Avengers. **Please review**, and, if you have any suggestions, I might include them. Here's Chapter Two of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Two - The Enhancement**

They went into the Enhancement room three days later. There was a line of hospital beds against the wall, wires and metal bits sticking out of them. All of the beds were occupied except for the three at the end. There were all sorts of people; small, large, redheads, blondies - you name it. The only thing that made them similar was their age and the fact that they were all sound asleep. They all seemed older than Xania but younger than forty.

"Hello, young Maximoffs." They turned to see a man with half-glasses behind them, "I am Doctor Baron Strucker, associate of Doctor List. Why don't you sit?"

He pointed to the three empty beds. Pietro immediately obeyed, Wanda following him. Xania sat down last, feeling wary.

"I'm just going to give you a little sleep medicine." Strucker said, "When you'll wake up, you'll have powers."

He neared Pietro first, who stuck out his arm. In seconds, he was asleep. Xania shot a worried look at Wanda, but the older girl wasn't paying attention. She was looking at Pietro as she got shot with the needle and went down.

Xania was next.

She held a shaking hand out and looked Strucker in the eye, as if to say _don't mess with us_. Strucker paid her no heed; he simply took her arm and injected her with the serum.

"Don't fight it." Strucker said as he walked over to a large case that Xania had somehow missed before. He took out a set of keys and unlocked seven different locks, all to the same case. He drew out a long weapon like-thing with a shimmering blue gem at the top. Xania fought to keep her eyes open, entranced by the gem. Her eyes widened at the sight of the power. Strucker looked back at her and laughed.

"You're a fighter." He commented, more to himself than to her, "We need that… hmm… maybe you'll be the one."

"One thwat?" Xania asked drowsily. Strucker did not reply. Instead, he simply watched her struggle to stay awake.

"One th-thwat?" Xania asked again, trying to sound forceful but instead just sounding silly. Everything was getting fuzzy around her.

"She's the one." Strucker said, turning away, "Why don't you go to sleep, young Maximoff?"

Xania barely heard him, but at the word _Maximoff_, she flinched and tumbled backwards.

Asleep.

* * *

He was running.

Running down the streets of Sokovia; past the old baker, past the black-haired newspaper man, past the ruins of a building. Other people were running as well. He looked back to see a small black thing falling out of the sky, heading towards him.

He ran faster, panting and heaving. He heard screams - none of them familiar, but all of them desperate.

The bomb was nearing the ground.

He ran faster. They screamed louder. Faster, louder, faster, louder, closer -

_BOOM_.

It was quiet.

He was on the ground, a building half-collapsed on top of him. Something red trickled out from underneath the rubble where his legs were.

"Won't survive-"

"Another gone-"

The voices were distant. He reached out to find the speakers but couldn't find them.

That's when he felt the pain.

He gasped, flinching as a thousand hammers attempted to burst out of his insides. He tried to move but was trapped. His vision of the building and the city and the decimation blurred in and out, red replacing it. The hammers kept on hammering.

He screamed.

The scene changed.

He was under the bed again.

A bomb labeled _Stark Industries _was inches from his face.

It blew up.

Pain - hurt - pain - hammer - pain -

He was being blasted into pieces -

Scream - scream - scream -

They came quickly, now; a redhead laying on a dark floor, a red body and a yellow gem beside her. The redhead was crying. The red body was dead. Little black haired girl walking in and scooping up the yellow gem with some type of orb-thing -

Pain - pain - hur - knife - bomb - hammer - pain -

Little girl was holding an orange gem and screaming -

Hurt - scream - pain -

Little girl being tossed aside by large purple grape dude -

Scream - hurt - pain - scream -

Horned guy in green scooping up little black-haired girl's motionless body, tears falling from his face -

Hurt - hammer - scream - pain - hurt - scream - knife - hammer - hurt - scream - pain -

Redhead throwing a spear -

Hurt - scream - pain - hurt - pain - hurt - scream -

Nothing.

It was a blissful nothingness.

He was sitting at a dining room table with redhead and little black haired girl. They were eating toast turkey and laughing about something. Redhead pointed her fork at him, miming gagging. Little black-haired girl roared with laughter.

He felt at peace. He felt happy.

He could stay here forever, right?  
Little black haired girl turned to him. The scene froze.

"Wake up." The girl said, "Wake _up_, Pietro."

He fought back, scrambling his mind. Their names danced away from his reach, as did his. He lashed out as fast as he could and grabbed ahold of them. He remembered.

Redhead was Wanda. Little one was Xania. He was Pietro.

They were the Maximoffs.

Pietro Maximoff opened his eyes.

* * *

She was screaming.

Why was she screaming?

It was red everywhere.

Why?  
She was falling.

Why?

She was hurting.

Why?

She couldn't remember.

"She's -"

"Sister -"

"Brother -"

She heard the voices and lashed out, tring to get to them. But she was falling away, down, down down -

It was very loud. People were screaming. No, she was.

_AAAAAAAGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH -_

Her body protested as she hit the ground. She looked up to see the stars. She was laying in the grass by a lake. Or was it? She had never seen that much water before. The moonlight glinted off of it, illuminating the spot she was sitting in.

Peace.

Beside her was a book titled _Harry Potter_. She wanted to read that book but didn't know how. She reached out to grab it and try but instead doubled over, clutching her head.

She was falling through the redness again, and this time, her head was throbbing. Her eyes were, too. Maybe she'd turn into a red blob like what was around her. That would be better than the pain.

She was screaming again.

Colors flashed - red, orange, purple, yellow, green, blue. She was falling in the flashes. She liked red the most.

She hit the ground again.

This time, she was in space. It was dark, but she could see large planets. The one closest to her was a blue and green one. It was pretty.

Little glowing pebble-things surrounded her. There were six of them - red, orange, purple, yellow, green, blue. She reached out to grab the yellow one. Instead of touching it, her hand went through it, and she was falling through red again.

At least it was red instead of brown or something.

_AAAAAAAGGGGGGHHHHHH -_

She was screaming again, maybe? She didn't really know - all she knew was that her head hurt.

All of the sudden, she was filled with fear. Fear in such a large amount that she began to cry. It filled her up like a balloon that wouldn't pop -

And then, seemingly out of nowhere -

"_I used to feel so alone." She suddenly explained, "So unwanted; so uncared for. But I realized that I had Pietro, my brother, and that I was not alone."_

_The other girl said nothing, staring at her feet. She got closer._

"_Maybe all you need is a friend."She continued, and the younger looked up, something sparking in her eyes, "Maybe I can be that friend."_

"_But you don't know me." The little girl said, emotion finally seeping into her voice; sadness, tinged with a bit of hope._

"_I feel like I do." She replied confidently, "You remind me so much of myself. We have… a bond, maybe? Sisterhood? Tell me now, will you hurt me? Betray me? My brother?"_

_The girl with electric-blue eyes stared at Wanda Maximoff and said could honestly agree._

"Wake up, Wanda Maximoff." It was _her _voice, the voice of the child that had changed their lives.

So Wanda Maximoff fought back against the pain with everything she had, screaming and crying but never giving in. She fought until she felt like she had no fight left, and then she fought some more. She battled up, up against the darkness, and saw the light.

Wanda Maximoff opened her eyes.

* * *

"_One th-thwat?" Xania asked again, trying to sound forceful but instead just sounding silly. Everything was getting fuzzy around her._

"_She's the one." Strucker said, turning away, "Why don't you go to sleep, young Maximoff?"_

Maximoff.

Maximoff.

Maximoff.

The word was the only sound she could hear in the darkness.

_I'm not a Maximoff._

The word changed.

_Mmmmaxtttar_

_Mmmark_

_Starkstarkstarkstark_

_Pain._

**STARK.**

_Pain._

She was in her old room. The white one with only enough room for a bed. Her head was against the small door that opened outwards as she rolled over, attempting to fall asleep.

"Yes, this Jaqueline Meadows. I'm calling for..." The voice came from outside her room. It was her mother in nothing but blood.

...

"What do you mean, I can't talk to him?" Jacqueline shouted, "I'm calling about his daughter, for goodness sake!"

...

"And you don't believe me." The voice huffed, "Well, then, tell _him _that he can -"

She turned her mother out as she began spewing curses. She looked at the walls that her bed was crammed between. She reached between her bed and the right wall, picking up the small gadget she'd put together. She flicked the switch and the room was illuminated. She placed it on the end of her bed and picked up her carving stick and carved another line on the one to her left, and beside it, a note.

_1461._

_Happy birthday to me._

_Pain._

**STARK.**

_Pain._

She came home from school skipping. Someone at school had offered for her to come to their sleepover birthday party. And mother would say yes, obviously, because it meant that they didn't have to be together.

She opened the door and stepped back, frightened. Her mother was standing there. Her mother was very mad. A hand reached out and tugged her inside. Her mother slammed the front door shut with one hand, eyes narrowing.

"Why," Jacqueline snarled, "When I open the door to your _room_, I find the walls all scratched up?!"

She gulped, backing away only to be trapped against the door.

"Why do I find bits and pieces of _my _stuff?" Jacqueline continued angrily, drawing out the two gadgets, "Hmm?"

"You were throwing the pieces away." She said quietly. Jacqueline did not take the olive branch.

"NO, I WAS NOT!" Jacqueline shouted, throwing the gadgets on the ground. The little girl by the door watched in horror as her mother stomped on her work. When the gadgets were nothing but shards of metal and glass, Jacqueline stopped stomping to take a breath.

The little girl's eyes watered. She was struck by sadness as she looked at her forever gone friends. The sadness bubbled up until it turned to anger. Her eyes narrowed. Anger turned to hate.

"I WISH YOU WERE - !" She never got to finish her sentence. Her mother grabbed her by the arm, tossed her into her room, slammed the door shut, and threw home the latch.

_Pain._

**STARK.**

_Pain._

It was a masterpiece. She had finished it.

"Hello, Xania." The little device said, "I am AVIS, A Very Intelligent System. You are my creator. I work like a computer, but I respond to you."

It was a masterpiece. It was hers.

_Pain._

**STARK.**

_Pain._

Her mother found and destroyed AVIS a month later.

_Pain._

**STARK.**

_Pain._

Abandonment.

_Pain._

**STARK.**

Sadness.

_Pain - Pain -_

**STARK.**

Despair.

_Pain - Pain - Pain -_

**STARK.**

Anger.

_Pain - Pain - Pain - Pain -_

**STARK.**

Hate.

_Pain - Pain - Pain - Pain - Pain -_

**STARK.**

Vengeance.

_Pain - Pain - Pain - Pain - Pain - Pain -_

_FIGHT._

**STARK.**

**STARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARKSTARK-**

NO.

She was not a Stark any longer.

"_Yes." She finished, "I'm a Stark. Father's the Tony Stark. I sold most of my stuff after that in the nearest town - 50 miles from here - in exchange for food. Now, two years later, I'm just scavenging and swearing revenge on my father and mother."_

_Her eyes were haunted as she said in a meek voice; "Please don't kill me."_

_There was a silence._

"_No." Whitish-haired teen finally said, his voice so strong that both girls turned to look, "You're not a Stark; at least, not a Stark any longer."_

"_Welcome to the family, Xania Maximoff."_

Xania Maximoff opened her eyes.


	4. Low Key

**Chapter Three - Low Key**

Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Guess who will be included in this chapter... yep, that guy. Chapter Four will include the Avengers. **Please review**, and, if you have any suggestions, I might include them. Here's Chapter Three of the Stark Legacy:

Xania awoke to Pietro arguing fiercely with Strucker and Wanda hovering over her worriedly.

"You did not say that only three - or m-maybe even two - of _fifty_ would survive!" Pietro shouted, "You did not say we could die!"

His voice sounded heartbroken. A tear landed on Xania's forehead, and she looked up to see Wanda crying. As her older sister saw she was awake, she immediately gasped. Pietro looked over and, when he was his little sister awaken, he ran over and wrapped the two of them in a hug.

"We did not know." Strucker said, his voice quiet, "We did not suspect. But you three have survived. Thank whichever gods you believe in for that, but also thank yourselves." He looked Xania straight in the eye, "You are fighters."

Pietro slowly let his sisters go, turning to look at the Doctor.

"We will stay here to learn our powers, no?" Pietro asked. Strucker nodded.

"She will show you to another room to fit the three of you." He said. Xania's eyes flicked to the side and saw the red-eyed girl standing there.

"You experimented on her, didn't you?" Xania asked sharply, "You've done this to others before, haven't you?"

The red-eyed girl looked astonished, but nodded. Strucker looked furious.

"Yes, but not with the scepter." He said, and then immediately shut his mouth.

The Maximoffs gave him a triple glare, but Strucker did not flinch. He motioned for the girl to take them away. They followed her through the blank halls.

"I'm sorry." Xania told the girl, who looked to be about Wanda's age. She nodded, looking to the ground, "I'm sorry that you have to stay here. I'm sorry you had to feel the pain."

"How do you know?" The other girl asked quietly, her voice raspy from being not used.

"Because you and I are not that different." Xania replied. The girl was silent as they slowed into a room with three cots, a table with three chairs, and a closet.

"My name is Ave." The girl said, standing outside of the room (which had no fourth wall for some reason). The Maximoffs, inside the room, nodded. Ave stared at them, something flickering in her eyes.

"I'm sorry." Ave said, "But they made me."

She pulled a lever on the outside of the room and bars dropped down, forming a wall.

Imprisoning the three Maximoffs.

"I'm sorry." Ave repeated, "They made me."

\- 3 weeks later -

Life for the Maximoffs fell into a routine. They'd awake (all naturally at about the same time, but it varied), get ready in the mini-locker room they'd found attached to their cell, eat, practice their powers, eat, practice powers more, practice reading and writing, eat, talk, go to sleep. It was easier that way - to have a routine.

None of the three had made any progress on their powers - frankly, they weren't exactly sure what they were. Pietro guessed that he was faster - there were moments where he turned into a blur - but both Wanda and Xania had no clue.

It was about the third week since they'd been stuck in the cell when it happened. Ave had come to bring breakfast. Keeping her head low, the girl shoved the food underneath the bars. Xania went over to pick it up, looking at Ave intensely. Ave simply turned away.

"Ave." Xania whispered. Ave kept walking, "AVE!"

Ave stilled but did not turn around.

"Help us." Xania said quietly, "Please."

Ave turned and very deliberately glanced to the corner of the hallway. A small camera sat there, turned to see the trio and the cage. Its lens swerved to watch Ave, and then turned back. Xania gripped the bars of what she now had to call home, rage filling her gut. After all of the years of her life she tried to be free, a _camera _was stopping her. Stopping them all.

"Go, then." Xania said, voice cracking from the hate it contained, "GO!"

Ave simply stared, her sorrowful gaze containing more than her words could. Xania stared up at the camera again, eyes narrowing. Hate and rage and vengeance, the feelings she had pushed down for weeks, bubbled up, overflowing.

_Crack. _

The camera burst into a million tiny pieces, the shards crashing to the floor with a satisfying noise like hail. Ave gasped, along with the Maximoff twins.

Xania grinned the wicked smile that she hadn't for a long time, watching the shards ever so closely. She closed her eyes and they flew upwards, heading straight towards Ave.

"Xania _no_!" It was Wanda. She ran to her little sister and shook her hard. Xania opened her eyes and drew in a short breath, shocked at what she'd done. The shards were surrounding the red-eyed servant girl. They slowly winked out of existence. Xania looked up towards where the camera used to be.

Where it was.

Where it had been the whole time.

* * *

It was the middle of the night. Xania watched her two siblings sleep, her mind on the day's events. She had figured out that she'd created some sort of illusion, but didn't understand _how_. All she remembered was a haze of anger, and that it had all seemed so real.

Xania watched her sister breath in and out. She swallowed, attempting to brush away the guilty that pooled in her stomach. When she'd seen those deadly shards - when she'd sent them at Ave - she had _wanted _to. And that made her scared. Scared of herself; scared of what she had been; scared of what she could be. An emotionless monster.

"Monster is quite a descriptive word."

Xania whirled around, closest object in hand. She turned to see a man with black hair and electric blue eyes like hers. He was wearing some sort of green suit and a black cape.

"I do not think you could best me with a book." The man said with a chuckle. Xania looked and, to her embarrassment, saw that she was holding a book like a weapon, the side pointed towards the man.

"I am stronger than you think." Xania bit out. The man grinned.

"Yes, you are." He replied, "And stronger than you think as well."

Xania stared him down.

"I am not here to harm you." The man said, "I am here to help. I am like you, Xania Maximoff."

"And who are you?" Xania replied, still hostile.

"Loki." The man replied, "Loki Laufeyson."

* * *

Loki returned every day to help Xania with her powers. For some odd reason, neither Pietro nor Wanda could see or hear him. Loki told Xania not to tell her siblings, and the girl reluctantly agreed.

Months passed, and, as Xania developed her powers, so did her two siblings. Pietro ended up having super speed and increased metabolism (that's what the doctors labeled it, both sisters called it healing powers), and Wanda… Wanda had some sort of telekinesis, mind reading, and mind manipulation (she could make you see your worst fears). The trio eventually ended up letting each other use their powers on each other to practice. That's how Xania figured out her power extended far farther than just seeing - she created a cut on Wanda's arm that Wanda actually thought stung, and a rose that Pietro picked up and could feel. Xania's power could trick the mind into thinking something was real.

Loki trained her to use that, too, even though his power only tricked the eyes. Xania thought Loki was awesome - he was funny, mischievous, and, even though he pretended he didn't, Xania could tell he cared about her.

"_Want for her to think you are not there." Loki told Xania as she attempted to turn invisible, "You cannot actually turn invisible, but you can trick her into thinking you are."_

_Xania turned to Wanda, who was staring at Xania, watching for even a flicker of invisibility._

_Xania closed her eyes and concentrated, pulling from the pulsing thing inside her that Loki had taught her how to control. She pushed the thing, the power, towards Wanda -_

"_It worked!" Wanda shouted, and Xania opened her eyes, still concentrating, "It worked!"_

_Pietro ran in from the restroom, bathrobe still on._

"_Do it to him, too." Loki whispered, and Xania pushed another thread of power out of her and towards her brother. Pietro blinked once, and then twice._

"_Xania?" He asked._

_Xania grinned, and then rushed at Loki, pulling the larger being into a hug. Loki stared at her, unable to form a single word. Xania looked up at her mentor, and, for the first time, Loki hugged her back._

_Xania's eyes widened, and she lost all concentration._

"_Uh…" Pietro finally said, "Xania? Why are you hugging thin air?"_

_Xania looked up at the man only she could see and smiled._

And then, one day, Strucker came back.

"The Avengers are coming." He said, "Are you ready?"

The trio shared a glance. Their hatred for Stark outweighed their hatred for Strucker, but after they destroyed the man of iron…

"Yes." They chorused.


	5. Blackbird

**Chapter Four - Blackbird**

Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Thank you, thank you, thank you to PrettyRecklessLaura for reviewing! I had originally planned to finish this chapter in a week or so, but reviews inspire me to write more. Anyways, here's Chapter Four of the Stark Legacy:

"_There's an enhanced on the field."_

Pietro grinned as he whizzed past the older man with the bow, letting his feet fly faster than they'd ever gone, finally feeling free.

"_There's a second enhanced. Female."_

Wanda made her way down a set of stairs, following a trail she'd longed to for so long…

"_Will someone take down that bunker?"_

Xania watched from the shadows, waiting for the right moment. Stark - where was he? The rest were all out in the open - the one with the shield had just previously gone inside - but Stark was long gone.

A loud stomping noise jolted her out of her thoughts, and Xania thanked Loki that she was invisible as the giant green monster raged past and into the nearest bunker, destroying it into little pieces. The red-headed woman then drew the beast away, leaving Xania blinking in the debris.

"-nia… please…"

Xania turned, the raspy voice she'd gotten accustomed to resounding throughout her skull.

"Hello? Please… please…"

Xania finally spotted the source - the girl, lying in the debris of the destroyed bunker, bloody and a piece of rubble sticking through her chest. Her eyes were staring up into the sky as she called for help.

Ave.

Xania ran, her mind keeping herself invisible while her feet pushed her forward. She collapsed in the dust beside the young girl, making sure Ave - but only Ave - could see her.

Ave stared at Xania.

"Her, let me-" Xania said, grabbing onto the stone frantically. A bloody hand stopped her.

"You cannot do anything about that." Ave whispered calmly, "But will you stay with me?

Xania nodded, a lump forming in her throat. She settled down into the dust, watching the young girl beside her with saddened eyes.

"Ave - I - I'm sorry for that time - " Xania blurted.

Ave smiled slightly.

"Long forgiven." She rasped, coughing a bit of blood up.

Xania stared, at a loss of words.

"I tried to kill them." Ave whispered, "Stark and them. He killed my family too."

Xania felt a wave of anger.

"Look." Ave whispered, staring at the sky. Xania upturned her face to see a blackbird soaring across the sky, watching something in a tree. The bird was as black as the night and stood out against the brightness of the day. They watched it as it disappeared into the shadows, blending in easily, and then came back into the light with prey in its mouth.

"You disappear like that, too." Ave rasped, spasming, "Disappear to find revenge. You are not just your powers - you are smart, like the bird. And you will be free, one day. When you are, will you get revenge? For me?"

Ave struggled to take another breath.

Xania felt a tear drop down her face for the girl she never knew - for the girl who knew her.

"Yes."

"I knew you were special, Blackbird." Ave whispered, her eyes looking to the sky, to the bird high above them. They dulled as her body stopped spasming.

Xania's heart shattered and she was plummeting down, down - screaming and visible for all to see - so much sorrow - so much regret - so much _pain _-

Everyone in a mile radius had stopped, their bodies withering in pain. Pain that wasn't real, but felt like it was -

* * *

Natasha Romanoff could see the girl who was at the center of a whirlpool of blackness, the one causing the pain. She got glimpses of her through the blackness. If Natasha Romanoff was a lesser being, she would have laid down on the ground and waited for the pain to end, but Natasha Romanoff was more than that. She knew pain. That is why she gathered her strength and pulled out her gun with a shaking hand, carefully aiming.

The girl spotted her at the same time Natasha's finger found the trigger.

And then Natasha saw the dead body.

And then Natasha saw those electric-blue eyes.

Natasha looked into those wide eyes that held a thousand emotions - fear, hate, regret, sorrow - and her had began to shake as she was reminded of another little girl, one a long time ago.

And then, with no communication but a glance, the girl understood what Natasha Romanoff was about to do.

* * *

"_According to our intel, the twins volunteered for Strucker's experiments. That's insane." Hill commented._

_Steve entered the elevator, looking grim._

"_Yeah, what kind of monster would let a German scientist experiment on them in order to protect their country?"_

"_We're not at war, Steve."_

"_They are."_

Natasha froze at Steve's words, recalling yet again the small girl on the battlefield.

"Wait."

Both Hill and Steve turned around, Steve sticking his arm in between the elevator doors.

"Natasha?" Steve asked.

Natasha stared him down for a long moment, before walking into the elevator. She waited until the doors closed in Hill's face before talking.

"There was another enhanced." She commented.

Steve inhaled sharply.

"Why didn't you tell us before?" He asked, looking concerned. Natasha stared at the numbers were slowly ticking down.

"It was a girl. Young. Black hair. Blue eyes. Maybe fourteen years old. Remember that pain in the middle of the fight?"

Steve nodded.

"She was the source. She was crying over another Hydra girl - dead. I was standing maybe thirty feet away, and I got my gun out."

Steve looked at Natasha with a bit of sorrow in his eyes.

"Natasha, you did what had to be done." He stated, "She was a threat. You killed her."

Natasha looked away.

"But I didn't." She whispered, "I let her get away."

* * *

"She let me go." Xania, invisible, whispered as she watched down on her siblings as they slept. They had started out separated, but Wanda had somehow found her way into Pietro's arms while she slept. The two looked so peaceful, "She had her gun out - she had it pointed at me - but she hesitated - but then she let me go."

Loki watched Xania with unreadable eyes.

"The redhead?" He asked eventually.

"Yeah." Xania replied, "Her."

Silence. Xania slowly swung her feet and leaned against the side of the tree, careful not to fall from her branch. She watched as Loki's face went through a range of expressions as he processed what Xania had said.

"They are all rotted inside, pretending to be heroes." Loki finally proclaimed fiercely, "Do not trust any of them. They will put an innocent man in jail if everyone else thinks him evil."

"But that's _wrong_!" Xania replied.

"Yet they have done the deed." Loki said, "And they will again. Do you really think Stark would hesitate to put you in jail after he killed your parents?"

Xania's eyes hardened, looking as cold as Loki's were.

"No." She replied.

They sat still again. Xania looked up to the moon and the shining stars that dazzled in the dark night sky. Suddenly, she spotted a group of stars that looked like an adult and a child holding hands, but, when she blinked, she could no longer make out the image. She stared at the spot for a few more seconds before giving up and turning away to watch the full moon slowly disappear behind a cloud.

"Why do you never come for real?" Xania whispered after awhile of stargazing, "We've escaped HYDRA, now. You can meet us in the forest and I can introduce you to Pietro and Wanda."

Loki shook his head.

"The place in which I am does not allow for me to leave." He replied.

"Yeah, as if you couldn't escape." Xania shot back sarcastically. The sarcasm hid her true feelings.

Loki turned his head and a slight, mischievous grin fell upon his face. His eyes twinkled with the familiar light that Xania knew suggested tricks were at hand and a plot was in motion.

"I have a grand plan for a better future." He said, "This is a key moment. I cannot leave."

Xania stared.

"Does your better future include me?" She asked quietly, voicing a doubt that had eaten at her for awhile, now. She couldn't imagine life without Loki - and she'd only known him for a year.

Loki watched the girl that he had known for about a year, now, his eyes flickering with an emotion that confused him - one he did not often feel.

"Yes." He whispered, "Of course."

"Of course, little Blackbird."


	6. You Can Make Them Destroy Each Other

Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Thank you to PrettyRecklessLaura and Girlwith100names for reviewing! Here's Chapter Five of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Five - You Can Make Them Destroy Each Other.**

"_I see a suit of armor around the world."_

"_Sounds like a cold world, Tony."_

"_I've seen colder. This one, this very vulnerable blue one, it needs Ultron. Peace in our time. Imagine that."_

* * *

"_But it's a trick." Clint proclaimed, spinning a chopstick._

_Thor laughed, passing a drink to Steve._

"_No, it's much more than that." Thor responded._

"Ah, whosoever be he worthy shall haveth the power…" Clint mocked, and Natasha held back a laugh, "Whatever, man! It's a trick!

"Please, be my guest." Thor responded.

Natasha leaned back, amusement dancing in her eyes. This would be one to remember.

"Come on." Rhodey whispered.

"Really?" Clint replied.

"Oh, this is gonna be beautiful." Rhodey said.

"Clint, you've had a tough week, we won't hold it against you if you can't get it up." Stark teased, and Natasha saw the true meaning - of course they would hold it against him - Natasha would hold it over his head for awhile.

"You know I've seen this before, right?" Clint lied to Thor. Natasha let a small smile out - she loved it when Clint got all cocky.

Thor nodded disbelievingly.

Clint grabbed the hammer at once and grunted, unable to get it to move.

"I still don't know how you do it!" He finally said, letting go.

"You smell the silent judgement?" Tony cut in, grinning. He and Natasha were on the same page.

"Please, Stark, by all means." Clint replied, holding his hand out to him before dropping it. Natasha grinned. Yep, this was definitely going to be a night to remember.

Tony got up, his ego showing as he practically strutted over.

"Ookay." Said someone from the side.

"Uh-oh." Rhodey added to the peanut gallery.

"Never one to shrink from an honest challenge." Tony said, still cocky.

"Get after it."

"It's physics." Tony replied, acting all high and mighty. Natasha smirked - yep, it would be nice to see Stark be taken down a few pegs.

"Physics." Another imitated, disbelieving.

"Right, so, if I lift it, I then rule Asgard?" Tony said to Thor, and Natasha nearly snorted.

"Yes, of course." Thor replied with a knowing smirk.

"I will be reinstituting Prima Nocta." Tony replied, and Natasha's face went still. That wasn't something to joke about.

Then, Tony tried and failed to lift it, even with the help of his armor and Rhodey, and Natasha decided that she would get a bit of revenge for his comment later.

Then Bruce - attempting to frighten everyone by pretending to be turning into the Hulk. No one bought it, smirking at each other, and Natasha shook her head at him when he looked her way.

Then it was Steve's turn, and Natasha peered closely at him. If anyone here was worthy, it was Rogers, for sure.

He bent to attempt to pick it up and the hammer twitched upwards. Thor's face was priceless, but no one else but him and Natasha saw the slight movement. Natasha watched as Steve attempted to lift the hammer again - and fail. Well, at least pretend to. Natasha knew Steve well enough. But Thor, however, fell for the act and smiled again, laughing a bit nervously.

"Nothing." He said quickly when Steve passed, and Natasha knew she was right.

Then the attention turned to her.

"And? Widow?" Tony asked. Natasha opened her mouth to say no - there was no way she could tease them with this if she also failed - but paused, yet again remembering the girl. She stared off to the side, thinking of how she'd planned to kill a child - a child who was mourning over a loss that the team had caused. Natasha took a deep breath and steeled herself. She had no right to tease the others, because she wasn't worthy either. So Natasha did the thing that would ensure that she wouldn't be tempted by the action.

"Yes." She replied, standing up and setting her drink down.

"Ooh…" Rhodey said, ever the commentator.

Natasha made her way over to the hammer and took a deep breath before placing her hand on the grip and pulling with all her might.

The hammer twitched.

Natasha stared for a half a second, eyes wide, before putting a mask of calm on and looking around. Thor was looking scared again, and Steve had a knowing glint in his eyes. The rest were clueless.

Natasha pulled again, but the hammer didn't move. Stark, still his arrogant self, said something she didn't hear as she sat down.

She'd made the hammer move.

But she wasn't worthy… was she?

* * *

"_I had stings, but now I'm free…"_

* * *

"You're wondering why you can't look inside my head." Said the man behind the cowl.

"Sometimes it's hard. But sooner or later every man shows himself." Wanda shot back.

The man - no, thing - stood and removed the cowl, grinning.

"Oh, I'm sure they do. But you needed something more than a man. That's why you let Stark take the scepter."

"I didn't expect…" Wanda whispered, "But I saw Stark's fear. I knew it would control him, make him self-destruct."

"Everyone creates the thing they dread." The robot thing replied, "Men of peace create engines of war, invaders create avengers. People create.." It trailed off, "smaller people? Uhh... children!" It chuckled, "Lost the word there. Children, designed to supplant them. To help them... end."

Xania Maximoff - otherwise known as Xania Stark - grinned evilly, Ultron's words sounding again and again in her head.

"_Children, designed to supplant them. To help them... end."_

* * *

Tony didn't understand the sudden sense of impending doom that came over him - it could have been Ultron, but there was something else...

* * *

"You and I, can hurt them." Ultron started, talking to Pietro.

"You can rip them apart." He continued with Wanda.

Ultron stood before Xania, looking down on her with a twisted smile.

"But you, little one, you can make them destroy each other."

* * *

"_Anybody remember when I carried a nuke through a wormhole?" Tony said fiercely, his egotistical side showing._

"_No, it's never come up." Replied Rhodes dryly._

"_Saved New York?" _

"_Never heard that." _

"_Recall that? A hostile alien army came charging through a hole in space. We're standing three hundred feet below it. We're the Avengers. We can bust arms dealers all the livelong day, but, that up there? That's... that's the end game. How were you guys planning on beating that?"_

"_Together." Steve replied._

"_We'll lose."_

"_Then we'll do that together, too."_

_Tony stared at Steve before turning away._

"Wait." Natasha called out, unable to keep the guilt down, "There was a third enchanted."

Everyone stared at her and she explained, making sure to gloss over why she didn't shoot the girl. There was only one person who she would trust with that information.

"So you've kept this to yourself the entire time." Tony said sharply.

Steve glanced at Natasha, and Tony caught it.

"Sorry - are you the same man that spewled about doing things _together _not three seconds ago?" He said with a dry laugh, turning around, "Anybody else recall that?"

"Tony-" Natasha interjected.

"No, you don't get to talk." Tony interrupted, turning to her with a glare, "You let a _walking nuke_ go. You get _no _say in this discussion, Romanoff."

"Tony, I know you're angry -" Steve started.

"Oh, I'm way past that." Tony shot back, "I knew you wouldn't allow for what we were doing, so I saved the whole team and did it myself."

"I don't think a rogue AI out to kill us counts as saved." Bruce interjected.

"Well, I at least did something and tried!" Tony bellowed, "Do you know why this team doesn't work? Because all of you think you're right, and won't stop and think of a way to save our world _forever_. You fight the fight but you don't consider that we could end it before it began. And you blame the people who are smart enough to see it!"

Tony took a deep breath.

"Something happened to Ultron that shouldn't have." He said, "I'll admit that. But nothing will get done if you stand here and argue about what we've done while Ultron is out there, preparing for what will come."

Tony stared Steve down.

"Tony's right." Steve eventually conceded, "Ultron's out there. And I'd like to find him before he's ready for us. The world's a big place. Let's start making it smaller."

* * *

"What's this?" Tony asked as Thor shoved a crime scene photo at his face.

"A message." Steve replied, "Ultron killed Strucker."

"Not just Ultron." Natasha said, "Look."

Beneath the main message was painted a bloody shape of a bird.

"Who…" Tony asked.

"I don't know." Natasha replied, "but why send a message when you've just given a speech?"

"Strucker knew something that Ultron wanted us to miss." Steve realized.

"I bet he…" Natasha started, rushing over to the computer, "Yep. Everything we have on Strucker's been erased."

"Not everything." Tony interjected.

* * *

Xania watched, invisible, as her siblings and Ultron dealt with getting the vibranium. She, as told to, looked out for the inevitably incoming Avengers.

And there they were.

Ultron and Stark talked for a few seconds, before launching into battle. Xania followed, waiting for Ultron to, as planned, let Stark fall. He did, and she approached Stark, wicked smile on her face as she conjured up an image of Captain America. First, the red, white, and blue suit over a body, then a perfect circle vibranium shield, then the smaller features of his face - the grimly set jaw in determination - all done in seconds. Xania waved her invisible hands and the illusion stepped out from behind a large fallen steel bar.

"Rogers." Stark called out, wheezing a bit, "Get - him -"

He pointed to Ultron, who was passing by the illusion of Rogers. Fake-Rogers pretended not to hear nor see Tony.

"The vibranium is secure." Fake-Rogers whispered to Ultron just loud enough for Tony to hear.

Ultron gave fake-Rogers a nod, and fake-Rogers ran out of sight. Xania let the illusion go after it turned the corner.

Xania exhaled shakily, the strain of making such a complex illusion taking a toll. The trick had payed off, however - Xania could see Stark's eyes widening, confusion and then hurt flashing over his face before he steeled himself and stood, taking off after Ultron with a limp.

Xania started after Stark, nimbly jumping over the fallen debris and drawing out a dagger. She quickly gained on the injured man, who was talking to his suit. She grinned like a cat as she stilled, inches away from the man, dagger posed. She waited as he paused, clicking the side of the suit. His head mask slid open and he began manually attempting to fix a wire in the part of the suit surrounding his injured leg, leaving his neck exposed.

"FRIDAY, give me an update on the suit." Stark said, and Xania heard a electronic voice reply. She froze, cast back into the past, when she had created something like this FRIDAY. And then her mother had destroyed it.

Xania launched herself at her father, ready to bring the dagger down.

"Sir, the others are in need of help." The robot voice said, "Something about the enchanted girl with red hair."

Xania skidded to a stop at the words, realizing that she was supposed to stay undiscovered. Stark could probably defeat her at this stage in her training, anyways. Trying not to breathe, Xania stared up at her now-standing father who was looking around, confused. Xania internally cursed - of course Stark had heard something. She had been careless. Using her power to make her footsteps silent to Stark, Xania ran backwards. Stark eventually stopped looking around and blasted upwards in his suit, going to aid his companions.

Xania started after Stark until he was out of sight before turning her attention elsewhere.

Xania ran off to see if she was needed - and indeed, she was. Wanda had some sort of electric arrow attached to her head, the man called Hawkeye responsible. Thankfully, Pietro reached Wanda and took her away, but Xania wasn't going to let something like that fly without revenge.

Reaching into her pocket, Xania took out the small device Ultron had told her to plant on one of the Avengers and approached the man with the bow…


	7. Falling Apart

Disclaimer: I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** I'm sorry that I haven't updated in awhile - life got busy. Please review! Here's Chapter Six of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Six - Falling Apart**

Tony stared at his computer screen.

"FRIDAY, pull up the feed from the battle." He commanded.

"Yessir." FRIDAY replied.

Tony watched as Ultron dropped him, waiting. He watched for the Rogers, but… he never appeared. Tony rubbed his eyes - maybe he'd just missed it - it was three in the morning.

"FRIDAY, replay." Tony said, unsure.

Tony watched the feed again. No Rogers.

Tony's breath caught in his throat. He knew that Rogers had been there - he'd told Ultron "The vibranium is secure" for goodness sake - but he didn't show up on the recording.

"Again."

This time, Tony saw Ultron's nod to what the recording said was thin air next to him.

"A glitch." Tony said in relief, leaning back, believing his tech was wrong before his brain was, "It must have been a glitch."

Tony Stark knew what he saw. He didn't need to rely on his tech to tell him again.

Steve Rogers had betrayed them to Ultron.

* * *

Natasha awoke to Tony's voice shouting at her door.

"Emergency group meeting." He called, "Emergency group meeting in the kitchen."

Natasha rolled to her side and glanced at the clock.

3:12 AM.

"You better have a very good reason for this, Stark." Natasha mumbled, swinging her legs off her bed and putting something on. She quickly made her way to the kitchen at Clint's house and sat down. Stark was already there, sipping a cup of coffee. Everyone else was still on their way, apparently, so Natasha sat down on a stool. Stark stood on the other side of the counter, watching her wearily.

"How long have you been awake, Stark?" Natasha asked, acting as if she didn't care.

"Since I woke up yesterday morning." Stark replied, "I'm fine. I've gone longer than this."

Natasha quirked an eyebrow.

"I don't need a speech about sleep right now, Romanoff." Tony snapped. Natasha caught the slight waver in his voice.

"I wasn't planning on giving you one." Natasha replied, pretending as if nothing was off.

"What's Stark want, now?" Clint said as he strided into the room.

"Shut it, Barton." Tony snapped. Natasha gave Clint a look and her friend got the message, sitting down next to Natasha and becoming silent.

"Guys?" Came Bruce's quiet voice, "What's wrong?"

Bruce walked into the room, glancing around nervously.

"Just wait, Bruce." Natasha replied, noticing Tony's growing frustration and attempting to diffuse the bomb before it exploded.

"I - am - present." Thor called blearily, striding into the room and rubbing his eyes, "Some of that good black drink for me."

Tony passed a mug of coffee to Thor.

"Present!" Steve called, finally making it. He entered the room in full battle gear, looking around as if ready to fight.

"We're having a meeting, Rogers, not a battle." Clint joked.

"Well, you can never be certain when you wake up to a loud voice at three in the morning." Steve defended a bit sheepishly.

"Yeah, cut the act, Rogers." Tony said, and everyone looked at him questioningly, "You know why I called this meeting? Because, out there - in the shipyard - I saw you."

Everyone stared.

"Er- Tony?" Bruce said, "That doesn't quite-"

"Can it, Bruce." Tony snapped, "Ultron dropped me and was going in the other direction, and then you came along. You didn't notice me, apparently, because you went straight to Ultron."

"Um-" Steve said, "I don't quite rememb-"

"Of _course _you don't _remember_." Tony interrupted, voice dripping with sarcasm, "Well, let me remind you; you went straight to Ultron and told him 'The vibranium is secure'. Remember now?"

The silence that followed was enough so that you could hear a penny drop from thirty feet away. Natasha whipped her head around to look at Steve, who was looking confused but also a little angry. She looked back at Tony to see him glaring - there was no trace of a lie in his expression, and Natasha knew what he looked like when he was lying from experience.

"Look, Tony, I'm sure this is just a misunderstanding-" Steve started.

"_No._" Tony said, "I saw you with my own eyes, Rogers. I saw you - saw you -" It was apparently hard for even Tony to admit, and that added to Natasha's evidence that he wasn't lying - or believed in himself, at least, "I saw you betray us."

Silence.

"Tony, it was probably just the witch messing with your head-" Bruce started.

"Did anyone else start seeing things in real life, or were you all just in your own nightmares?" Tony asked, and continued at the pause, "Exactly."

Steve shifted from one foot to another.

"Look, Tony, I don't want to fight you-" Steve started.

"Oh, yeah?" Tony asked, laughing humorlessly, "Then why come dressed in full battle gear, as if you were predicting a fight?"

Natasha admitted to herself that Steve didn't look too innocent, coming in with his suit on.

"Do you have any proof?" Natasha asked instead, "Solid, legitimate proof that Steve _betrayed _you?"

Tony and Steve stared each other down.

"No." Tony finally admitted, "None but my word and the evidence before you."

He pointed at Steve.

"Tony, I didn't betray any of you." Steve said, inhaling deeply, "I would never betray the team."

"I was afraid you'd be this way." Tony said with a self-suffering sigh, "Well, innocent until guilty is the verdict? I can live with that. But just know, Rogers - I'll be watching you. And so will every single camera I have."

Tony looked around at them all.

"Be ready." He said, "Who knows who will betray us next."

* * *

"Steve." Natasha said, dashing after the man as he briskly walked toward the door, "Steve!"

Steve turned as he walked outside holding an arm out so she could do so as well. He slammed the door shut hard and began to walk towards the pile of wood outside.

"You - you believe me, right?" Steve asked, his voice cracking. Natasha didn't respond, "Right? Natasha?"

"Look me in the eyes." Natasha commanded with a sudden intensity, stepping before him, "Look me in the eyes and tell me you aren't betraying the team."

Steve stared Natasha down.

"I'm not betraying the team." Steve said evenly, a bit of frustration seeping through his voice.

Natasha stared at Steve for a long moment, gazing into his eyes.

"I believe you." Natasha replied at last.

Steve looked a bit shocked.

"Just like that?" He asked as they reached the stack of wood.

Natasha looked away.

"Just like that." Natasha replied.

* * *

Clint grunted as Natasha swung her legs around him and tackled him to the ground, ending up on top. Clint quickly rolled to the side, however, forcing Natasha to do so as well. To avoid being trapped, Natasha rolled opposite of Clint and stood up.

The both stood there for awhile, across from each other and panting.

"I think - this is - the longest I've held out against - you." Clint commented, still heaving a bit, "How long has this round been?"

"Five minutes." Natasha relplied, "But don't get too cocky; you haven't won against me."

"Yet." Clint added.

Natasha ran straight at him, faking and instead jumping left, where she knew Clint would dodge to. She was right - Clint's eyes widened as she pounced on him, pinning his arms to the ground.

"I win." Natasha said.

Clint looked put out, and Natasha laughed.

"Don't look like someone stole your baby." Natasha commented.

"Believe me, if someone stole my baby, my reaction would be very different." Clint replied, "I think it would more be shoot the thief in the heart."

Natasha nodded, knowing how protective her friend was.

"Besides, I don't mind this too much." Clint said, looking up, "The sky from the forest is pretty."

"Now you sound like a princess." Natasha deadpanned, but she looked up anyways. Indeed, from the clearing Natasha and Clint were practicing in, the sky was "pretty". The leaves from the trees created a beautiful canopy-

"Ha!"

Natasha turned back to find that Clint was pushing her over and they quickly swapped positions.

"I won!" Clint crowed, looking down at her with glee.

"We haven't started another round yet." Natasha replied.

"Meh." Clint said, "It still counts. Ooh, wait until Fury knows - Natasha Romanoff, bested by only an archery man who couldn't use archery!"

"You've been trained in hand-to-hand with SHIELD as well, Barton." Natasha replied, "Now get off of me."

Clint stood up, something falling from behind his ear. Natasha's gaze flickered to the black object for a second before snapping her attention back to Clint.

"I better go check up on the kids." He said, walking away, "You coming?"

"Yeah, just a second." Natasha replied as if nothing was wrong.

"Alright, see you there." Clint replied before taking off back towards the house. Natasha watched him until he disappeared out of sight before turning to the thing Clint had dropped.

Natasha stared at the small black object for a few seconds before scooping it up to take a better look. It appeared to be a com - one with a sticky backside so it could easily be hidden. Natasha wondered for a second why Clint would have such a thing before it dawned on her.

"_Be ready." Tony had said, "Who knows who will betray us next."_

She couldn't believe it. Shouldn't. Clint was her friend. But… people were corruptible; Natasha had learned that. And all the evidence pointed against Clint; and against Steve, too. People would betray each other. Natasha knew that best of all.

Natasha looked at the tiny listening device that had just changed her life, before doing the only thing she really knew how to do.

Natasha ran.

* * *

It must have been an hour later before Natasha stopped running, sitting down on a tree stump to catch her breath.

Natasha knee she had to tell someone about the com; someone that could tell her who it led back to. Just so she could be sure Clint had betrayed them to Ultron. Her options were either Bruce or Tony. Normally, Natasha would trust Bruce more, but now… anyone could betray anyone, and Tony… Tony thought Steve had betrayed them as well.

Natasha picked herself up and dashed back to the house. Minutes later, she opened the door, only to come face-to-face with Clint.

"Hey." Clint said, "Where'd you go, Nat? You had me worried."

"Just for a walk." Natasha replied in a mask of calm, casually putting her right hand into her pocket and dropping the com into it.

"Long walk." Clint replied, eyes narrowing a bit.

"Alright, I looked at the sky a bit, okay?" Natasha replied, forcing herself to blush a bit. Clint snorted, evidently taking her explanation. He stepped to the side, letting Natasha in.

"I'm just getting some supplies for the house." Clint replied, "I'll be back in about an hour. Try to keep Stark and Rogers from blowing each other up before I get back, okay?"

Natasha nodded as Clint stepped outside and closed the door behind him. She leaned against the door, shaking a bit from the close encounter and closing her eyes.

"Natasha?" Natasha jumped and opened her eyes to see Laura standing before her, "Are you alright?"

"Yes." Natasha lied, "Just a bit stressed from the whole thing with Tony and Steve."

Laura nodded.

"Speaking of Tony, have you seen him?" Natasha asked.

"He's hiding in the guest bedroom - he's set up a whole computer thing there." Laura replied, "Said he was looking for Ultron when I asked."

Natasha nodded, moving away.

"Hey Nat?" Laura called, and Natasha turned around, "I don't want this fight to destroy my family. You know Clint will do anything to protect our family, right? So will I."

Natasha froze. No, no, no… not Laura as well -

Laura smiled.

"See you, Natasha." She said, walking off towards the kitchen.

Natasha stared after the woman she once thought was her friend. "Clint will do anything to protect his family" she'd said. Anything. Including betraying the Avengers to Ultron.

Natasha turned and hurried towards the guest room.

Tony whipped around in his chair as soon as Natasha entered the room, on his guard.

"What do you want?" He asked, the dark circles under his eyes prominent.

Natasha shut the door, leaving her and Tony alone in the room. Tony stiffened, but Natasha shook her head at him.

"I'm not here to hurt you, Stark." Natasha said.

"How am I supposed to believe that?" Stark replied, voicing Natasha's concerns about him. Natasha approached him and pulled her hand out of her pocket. She opened it, revealing the com.

Stark looked between her and it a few times.

"Clint and I were sparring." Natasha explained, "This fell out from behind his ear. He didn't notice, so I grabbed it when he left. I need you to trace where the com leads back to."

Stark nodded, hearing the unspoken message; Natasha needed him to make sure Clint had betrayed them to Ultron. He took the com from her hand and plugged it into his computer.

"It'd be easier from the lab." Stark commented, his voice wavering a bit. Natasha nodded, thankful for him not judging her choice of friendship or teasing or any of that nonsense that would probably make her teeter over the edge and explode, "But I can do it."

He clicked a few buttons and a loading screen popped up.

Stark turned back to her, swiveling his chair. His eyes looked like those of a broken man.

"How do I know you aren't setting this up to put the blame off of you?" Tony asked. Natasha watched him for a few seconds. His question was good but very paranoid; it was either a sign of a genius or an insane man. Natasha figured it could be a bit of both.

"You don't." Natasha replied, speaking the harsh reality of the situation.

Tony stared at her, and she stared back. They locked gazes for a minute, searching each other's eyes to find some sort of clue that the other was lying.

"I believe you." Tony finally said, "But I swear, Romanoff, if you're lying, I'll kill you."

"Same here." Natasha replied.

The similar threats seemed to bind them together, somehow. Natasha found herself liking Tony more - she used to think he was just an egotistical trillionaire, but now she could see he had more layers… he had a weakness. He was human. No human was perfect. That's why Natasha was so distrustful of Steve. He seemed… well, just too _good_. But Tony - Tony, she could now understand.

Tony was feeling basically the same thing. He used to think Natasha was just a sly, cunning, emotionless spy that had the usual evil-turned-good backstory. But now, he saw a different side of her - one that allowed him to relate to her, to empathize with her.

A ping jolted the both of them out of their thoughts. Tony turned back to the screen. It read 5% complete, but there was now a small map at the bottom. It was both the com on the other side's location from yesterday.

The titanium salvage yard.

Natasha and Tony sucked in a sharp breath at the same time.

Clint had betrayed them to Ultron.

Natasha immediately turned away, not wanting Tony to see the tears that streaked down her face. She was supposed to be stronger than this - she was an assassin, for goodness sake - but instead she was reduced to a silently sobbing human who couldn't get it together. She stared at the door, trying to force her eyes to stop watering. Nothing worked. All she felt was the overwhelming despair - the person she trusted most had betrayed her.

Suddenly, a hand was placed on her shoulder. Tony turned Natasha around and stared at her tears. Natasha attempted to turn away again, preparing for Tony to laugh at her. Instead, two arms wrapped around her and Natasha found herself being hugged by Tony Stark, found herself weeping into his shoulder, found herself being okay with that.

Tony was shocked at himself - he never knew that he had enough bravery to touch Natasha Romanoff, the master assassin and spy, let alone hug her. He waited, half expecting for her to stab him to death, but the redhead did nothing but cry, soaking his shirt.

If this was an act, Tony thought, than either pigs would start falling from the sky or a giant purple grape would come and kill them.

And then his tears came - tears of hurt and betrayal, tears of confusion and pain. Tony held Natasha just a little tighter hoping she wouldn't tell that he was crying.

She could tell. Natasha finally hugged Tony back, wrapping her arms around him as he began to shake.

They stayed that way for awhile, the two seemingly most emotionless and unsympathetic people, hugging each other as they cried.

**A/N: **First off, this will _not _be Tony/Natasha. They'll be friends, but that's it. The moment with the two of them was a shared sorrow and friends attempting to comfort each other, not a soul bond or something of the sort.


	8. Broken

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N: **We have reached over 1000 views! Wow! Thank you to all of my reviewers; Guest, HanzSolo, MyrAurora, PrettyRecklessLaura, and GirlWith100Names. Your enthusiasm helps me write faster and be inspired! I've decided to respond to reviews because of this. I'm sorry if your review isn't responded to, but I'm only going to respond to the most recent ones (in this case, the ones from chapter seven).

To Guest: Thanks so much! I love the Natasha and Tony moment at the end of the chapter as well. There will be more Xania and Loki bonding time, but that will be after Age of Ultron. Just as a heads up to everyone: Age of Ultron will finish on chapter eleven.

To PrettyRecklessLaura: Thank you for your continued support! I'm hoping to update more quickly, but my summer plans are pretty confusing and full. I'll try my best to post the next chapter quickly!

To HanzSolo: Thank you so much! Your enthusiasm, as does everyone else's, means a lot to me. As I have said before, I am going to try to post more often over the summer.

Alright, that's it! Please read and review! Here's Chapter Seven of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Seven - Broken**

Bruce stared as Natasha and Tony came into the room, sitting down and the kitchen table side by side. He quickly chose to sit across from Natasha. Thor was already next to Bruce, and, when Clint came in, he chose to sit next to Natasha. Bruce noticed Natasha flinched a bit when Clint came in, but her face quickly morphed into one of calm. Bruce's eyes flickered towards a movement under the table that he could barely see from his perspective - Tony took Natasha's hand in his. Something tightened in Bruce's stomach at the sight. He looked away.

He spotted Steve enter the room just as Tony did.

"Bruce." Steve said, acknowledging his stare, "Tony."

There was a silence as Steve sat down. The tension that filled the room was thick enough to cut with a knife. Tony and Steve hadn't been in the same room since the blow up earlier that day, quite a feat for people sharing a small house.

Tony stood up the moment Steve stood down. The Hulk inside Bruce stirred, noticing the power play.

"I have proof." Tony announced, setting a com, which was connected to a computer, on the table, "Natasha found this on Barton earlier today."

Clint's eyebrows furrowed, evidently confused.

"We've been tracking the duplicate." Tony said, "Yesterday, it was in the salvage yard. Where Ultron was."

"Ultron." Bruce realized, forcing himself to ignore the we Tony put out there, "Clint's been communicating with Ultron." Bruce looked over to Steve, "So you were right, Tony."

"Woah, let's not jump to any conclusions…" Barton said.

"Shut your lying mouth, Barton." Natasha snapped. Clint looked at Natasha, seeming shocked.

"You…" Clint said, "You believe him, Nat?"

"What other choice do I have?" Natasha asked, standing as well and glaring at her ex-friend.

"I do not believe that Friend Steve would betray us to Ultron." Thor stated, "Or the man with the bow."

"My name is Clint." Barton muttered.

"Stay out of this, Thor." Tony said, "You don't understand."

"Of course I do!" Thor exclaimed loudly.

By now, everyone stood. Bruce, Tony, and Natasha were all on one side of the table while Clint, Thor, and Steve were on the other.

"Well, any last lies?" Tony asked, "Or will you tell the truth before you die?"

He held his hands out and small pieces of his armor came flying out of the guest room and attaching themselves to him. Steve reached under the table and came up with his shield. Clint took out two daggers from his pockets, looking a bit hesitant. Thor reached out for his hammer, waiting. Unlike the others, Bruce quickly stepped backwards, not wanting to Hulk out in a house that was full of kids and a mother -

All of the sudden, Tony grunted, falling backwards. Thor's hammer finally arrived as Tony's eyes shut. Tony hit the floor to reveal Laura standing behind him, tranquilizer dart in hand. Everyone stared at her as she looked at all of them, glaring.

"Sorry guys, but I'm not having a fight occur in my house." Laura said, "I-"

That was as far as she got.

Natasha launched herself at the woman, hand slapping the dart away as she tackled the woman to the ground.

"I trusted you!" Natasha shrieked, grabbing the dart from the floor and holding it above Laura's head, "I trusted you, you awful, backstabbing -"

Natasha was thrown off Laura as Barton ran straight into her. The dart clattered to the floor by Bruce's feet. Bruce stared helplessly as Barton pinned Natasha down.

"No - one - hurts - Laura." Clint growled. Natasha didn't reply - instead, she kicked Barton off with her feet, causing him to hit his head on the side of the table. Wasting no time, Natasha launched herself at Steve, who's eyes widened as the redhead slammed into him. Then it was three on one, Thor setting his hammer down and instead attempting to get a blow in at Natasha. Steve used his shield to both punch and block, and Clint had gotten up and was using the back of his knife to try to knock Natasha out. Just like a spider, Natasha dodged the blows, weaving back and forth and flipping around. Bruce could tell she was getting tired, however - her moves were quickly getting slow. Bruce felt useless as he watched Natasha get hit in the head by Steve's shield and was thrown to the floor.

And then, before he even knew what he was doing - Bruce was too focused on keeping a raging Hulk at bay - Bruce had grabbed the tranquilizer and launched himself at Steve. The dart went in and Steve's eyes widened. He didn't fall however - he was only briefly dazed. Probably because of the serum. Bruce didn't care - barely keeping himself from turning green, he began to punch Steve in the face again and again, the image of Natasha falling at Roger's shield flashing in his mind.

Someone - probably Barton, because Natasha was fighting Thor - pulled him off. Bruce roared, his face turning completely green for a few seconds before he regained control over himself, reminding himself that kids were the house. Stay human for them, Banner, stay human…

Bruce watched, shocked, as Barton let go of him and stuck another tranquilizer dart into Natasha's neck and the woman hit the ground, asleep.

The three others stared at him.

Bruce put his hands up.

* * *

"So you let them go." Tony hissed for the millionth time at Bruce, fiddling with the controls on the quinjet in an attempt to get it flying somewhere else than where Barton had set it to, "You just put your hands up and let them send us off in a ship to who-knows-where."

"I'm sorry, okay?" Bruce replied, running a hand through his hair, "It was three against one, and I didn't want the Hulk coming out and killing innocents!"

"They aren't innocent, I assure you." Tony said darkly.

"Not them - Barton's kids!" Bruce said, "Who would I be if I let the Hulk kill them, destroy their family, destroy their home?!"

"A monster." Natasha replied from the side, "You would be a monster. And you know what, Bruce? I'm okay with you letting them go. It makes you the better one of all of us."

Bruce stared at her, a blush tinting his cheeks.

"But next time, we're not holding back." Natasha replied harshly, "They're going down, along with Ultron. We just need a plan of attack."

"We need to get them apart." Bruce quickly replied, "Take them down separately. We need to figure out where Ultron is now, before they get to him and team up."

"I'm working on it." Tony replied, typing something into a computer, "They didn't give us our stuff, apparently," he glared at Bruce, "so they have the thing that will tell us where Ultron is and we don't. I'm searching the web now for any sightings, anything at all…"

There was a silence, before Bruce exclaimed, "But what does he even want? What's his point?"

"To become better." Natasha replied, realizing it as she said the words, "Better than us. He keeps building bodies."

"Person bodies." Tony cut in, "The human form is inefficient. Biologically speaking, we're outmoded. But he keeps coming back to it."

"When you two programmed him to protect the human race, you amazingly failed." Natasha commented.

Bruce suddenly looked up, eyes wide.

"They don't need to be protected, they need to evolve." He said breathlessly, "Ultron's going to evolve."

Tony looked up from his computer.

"How?"

Bruce looked very nervous.

"Has anyone been in contact with Helen Cho?"

* * *

"Cellular cohesion will take a few hours, but we can initiate the consciousness stream. We're uploading your cerebral matrix now." Doctor Cho said to Ultron, looking extremely excited.

"I can read him." Wanda said breathlessly, "He's dreaming."

Xania got the underlying message; Wanda was going to read Ultron's mind. Thankfully, Ultron didn't notice.

"I wouldn't call it dreams." Doctor Cho said, "It's Ultron's base consciousness, informational noise. Soon…"

Xania stared at the woman who, according to Wanda, was under Ultron's influence from the magical gem that was currently in the red body Ultron was downloading himself into. The same gem that had been in the scepter that had changed the Maximoff's lives.

Xania felt badly for the woman.

"How soon?" Ultron cut in, and then, as a side note, "I'm not being pushy."

"We're imprinting a physical brain." Doctor Cho replied, "There are no shortcuts. Even if your magic gem is…"

Wanda's eyes slightly focused, and Xania knew what she was doing.

Suddenly, Wanda gasped.

"How could you?" She asked Ultron, leaning into Pietro for support. Xania, sensing trouble, turned herself invisible and created an illusion of herself where she had been standing.

"How could I what?" Ultron asked.

"You said we would destroy the Avengers, make a better world." Wanda replied.

"It will be better." Ultron said, still a bit confused.

"When everyone is dead." Wanda replied, and Xania froze. No no no no no no… why did they always choose the wrong side?

"That is not…!" Ultron started, before considering, "The human race will have every opportunity to improve."

"And if they don't?" Pietro responded, glaring at the robot.

"Ask Noah." Ultron replied, grinning like a maniac.

"You're a madman." Wanda proclaimed, but her eyes made their way to where Xania was standing by her duplicate. Xania wondered how Wanda knew before realizing that Wanda knew her well enough she could predict what she was doing - they were sisters, after all.

"There were more than a dozen extinction level events before even the dinosaurs got theirs." Ultron said, his speech giving Xania time to move over to Doctor Cho, "When the Earth starts to settle, God throws a stone at it, and believe me, he's winding up. We have to evolve. There's no room for the weak."

"And who decides who's weak?" Pietro asked, and the Maximoffs jumped into action. Wanda moved her hands ever so slightly and Doctor Cho's eyes went back to normal. Xania prepared to grab Helen Cho and make a break for it -

"Life. Life always decides." Ultron replied, distracted enough to not see what was happening. He glanced of to the side before snapping, "There's incoming. The Quinjet. We have to move."

Doctor Cho stepped forward and canceled the upload to Ultron's consciousness.

"That's not a problem." She said, and Xania admired her bravery.

Ultron blasted something at Cho, and Xania moved, shoving the woman to the ground while letting go of the illusion. Xania quickly got Cho up and Pietro grabbed them all and they zoomed out of there.

Ultron watched them go, his metal hands clenching in anger.

After all, as Tony Stark had put it, he had let a walking nuke go.

* * *

Bruce watched as Natasha slept, head unconsciously learning against Tony's shoulder. Tony was still typing on a computer - still attempting to find Ultron, probably. Bruce had been falling in and out of sleep for hours.

"What time is it?" Bruce asked Tony hesitantly. Tony looked up.

"Almost seven in the morning." Tony whispered, "And do try to by quiet - Natasha is sleeping."

He looked back down at his computer.

"Since when do you care?" Bruce hissed, the tight ball in his stomach squeezing so much he thought it might explode, "The last time I checked, you thought her first name was Agent!"

Stark looked back up at Bruce and glared.

"Since I realized that she is more than that." Stark replied quietly, "Since she came to me with proof her best friend had betrayed her and she cried."

Bruce's eyes widened.

"So you two - " He started, but couldn't make out the last words - the words that had bugging him for what seemed like an eternity but was really only a day, "So you two- "

Stark stared at him.

"So that's what this it all about?" He asked, and Bruce nodded, looking at the floor and unable to meet the other man's eyes. Tony chuckled quietly, "No. We're not… like that. We're not a thing. It's just… she seems more like family now, you know?"

Bruce nodded, a weight he had barely realized was there lifting off of his shoulders.

Tony and Bruce sat silently for awhile, feeling more at peace with each other. Tony mostly looked at his computer, but Bruce caught him glancing over at Natasha with a caring tenderness he had never seen on the man before-

"I FOUND HIM!" Tong suddenly shouted, and both Bruce and Natasha jerked up, "I FOUND HIM!"

The trio huddled around the computer, staring at the series of photos Tony had up.

They had found Ultron.

* * *

"Hey, bow-man!" Thor called from the dining table. Clint groaned, lifting his head from his hands for the first time in hours.

"What?" Clint asked.

"The red blinking thing on Stark's computer won't turn off." Thor complained. Clint shot up, running over to the computer. Steve, evidently noticing that something was happening, came over as well.

"How long has the red dot been there?" Clint asked dangerously.

"Um… since that black line in the round object on the wall touched the number six." Thor said.

Clint groaned.

"That's almost an hour!" Clint said, "I told you to tell me when the map changed."

Thor shrugged.

"Whoops." He said.

"Whatever." Clint growled, "Listen, that red dot is where Ultron is now."

The three looked at the map, memorizing it.

"Let's go get that son-of-a-" Clint started.

"Language." Capt cut in, grabbing his shield off the table.

"Man, I really thought I had that finish."


	9. Coming Together

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Firstly,** this chapter is pretty long. It is going to make up for a rather short chapter in the near future.**

Next,** thank you to my reviewers; Guest, ILoveMarvel (aka Guest), and PrettyRecklessLaura.** Your enthusiasm helps me write faster and be inspired! I've decided to respond to reviews because of this. I'm sorry if your review isn't responded to, but I'm only going to respond to the most recent ones (in this case, the ones from chapter eight).

**To ILoveMarvel and Guest (because I will be addressing the same thing):** Thank you so much for reviewing! Since both of you expressed desire for a Natasha/Tony pairing, I'm going to respond to both of you together. I know that everyone has different opinions on ships, such as some people love Dramione (Draco/Hermione) and some cannot stand it, so I fully support that you want Natasha/Tony in more stories. I am most likely not, however, going to make this story a Natasha/Tony story. I say 'most likely' because I haven't written the whole story out, so I'm not totally sure about all of the bits and pieces. What is more likely to happen is that Natasha and Tony try having a romantic relationship and it doesn't work out, so they go back to being just friends. As I said before, I'm not 100% on how the story is going to go. I like to change the plot a bit as I go along. I wouldn't set my hopes up on this story to be Tony/Natasha, though. Also, I've never written slash story before, so I'm not sure how that would go.

**To PrettyRecklessLaura:** Thank you for being understanding and supportive! I am unfortunately not going to be able to post for a week, so sorry about that. I will post as soon as I can, though!

Alright, that's it! Please** read and review**! Here's Chapter Eight of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Eight - Coming Together**

"I've got the truck in sight." Bruce said through the com, "Nat, you see it?"

Natasha replied with an affirmative as she quickly drove towards the road through a crowd of people. She put her weight on the back wheel and pushed up, clearing the small roadblock and landing gracefully on the road.

"Smooth moves, Widow." Came Tony's voice through the com. Natasha looked up to see him flying in his suit over her and towards the truck up ahead.

"I couldn't say the same for you, man-in-an-iron-can." Natasha teased as she brought her hand down on the gas as hard as she could. Natasha sped by a few cars, people turning to stare.

"Hey-" Tony started, but Natasha didn't hear the rest, for she spotted a very—familiar looking shield lying on the ground.

Natasha cursed.

"They're here." She said, grabbing the shield, "Tony, are you ready with that distraction?"

"Yep." Tony replied, his voice tight, "Get ready for a show."

Tony flew towards the truck, Natasha and Bruce trailing behind. Tony, ever his dramatic self, knocked on the back doors.

"Open up!" He called out, and quickly moved out of the way. Natasha watched as Steve Rogers tumbled out of the truck, Ultron following him. Ultron turned and spotted Stark. With no hesitation, the robot rushed at its creator. The two flew away.

Natasha rode up to where Rogers was getting up. He had cuts all over his face - from the fall, Natasha justified. His eyes widened as he saw her approaching. Natasha lifted his shield up in the air, held it as she passed Rogers, and rammed his own shield into the side of his head. Natasha looked back to see Rogers crumpling to the ground, unconscious.

"One down." Natasha said, turning back to follow the truck, "Bruce, can you distract the bots? And both of you - keep an eye out for Thor and Barton."

"You know, I've never flown one of these before." Bruce replied nervously, "Which has it go down, again?"

Natasha groaned, wishing for a half second that Clint was there before remembering that he had betrayed them.

"Don't you have 7 PHDs or something?" Tony asked before grunting. Natasha looked up to see that he was fighting off Ultron in the air. He seemed to realize he didn't have all that much flexibility up there and dove downwards, going out of sight. Ultron dashed after him.

"None of them are for flying spy ships." Bruce muttered, but he apparently found the right lever and sped downwards, towards the truck. Ultron's bots quickly spotted him and sped off, chasing the ship Bruce had figured out how to go up, as well.

"All clear, Natasha." Bruce said, "I've got them on my tail, but I don't know how long I can hold them-"

He was cut off by a roaring. Natasha turned to see a small ship, alike to the quintjet, speeding past Bruce's. Some of Ultron's bots raced after that one as well, confusing Natasha.

"Barton's here." Bruce said.

"Yeah, I saw." Natasha replied, setting aside her confusion and instead quickly racing after the truck. Apparently, some of the bots saw, because they quickly came and attached themselves to the wheels. The truck began to slowly lift, so Natasha jumped off the bike and grabbed onto the doors of the truck, which were flapping wide open. Natasha quickly swung herself inside and started to work on getting the case unhooked from the truck.

"Hey Bruce, are you ready to take it?" Natasha asked.

"Er- I'm trying to throw off Ultron's bots." Bruce said with a grunt.

Natasha cursed.

"Hey, guys?" Tony said through the com, "Hate to make this even worse, but I've got company. Ultron's left now - probably because more of his bots arrived -"

Natasha froze.

There, only ten feet away in a ship, was Clint Barton.

* * *

Xania watched with wide eyes as Wanda and Pietro quickly separated Ultron from the man she knew as Captain America. They'd seen the fighting from a television and didn't want any innocents to get hurt. So they'd dropped Doctor Cho off at a taxi -she said she could take care of herself from there - and sped off to help.

Xania took a breath, ready to help.

Xania suddenly appeared, as did ten others of her. Ultron turned and gaped as all of her mimics and herself rushed at him, dagger posed to strike.

"Please." Ultron told her, "Don't do this."

Xania bared her teeth menacingly.

"What choice do we have?"

Ultron stared at her for a half a second before he blasted out of the train, leaving a gaping hole in the side.

Captain America turned to the three of them.

"Civilians in our path." He said.

Pietro whizzed off.

"Can you stop this train?" He asked Wanda.

Wanda nodded and stepped forward, concentrating.

Xania waited for her orders.

"Stay safe." He finally told her, before turning to help someone. Xania gaped - she wasn't some child in need of protecting! Xania stared at the man's retreating back for a few seconds before whirling away, looking out the window to see if anyone needed help.

It turned out, someone did.

* * *

Natasha stared at the man she used to call friend, incapable to do anything else. Internally, she scolded herself - she should be _better _than this, for goodness sake - but she could do nothing. It appeared he was speechless for a few moments as well, but he eventually opened his mouth.

_Natasha_. He mouthed. Natasha glared at him, ready to turn away, but - _It was a set up. _

Natasha stared, unable to believe him but at the same time something in her yearning to go to him.

_Let me help. _He mouthed, and Natasha shook her head, _Please, Nat. _

Natasha bit her lip.

_Natasha, you're like a sister to me. _ _And family protects each other. Helps each other. _

Natasha's thoughts cast back to what Laura said.

"_I don't want this fight to destroy my family. You know Clint will do anything to protect our family, right? So will I."_

That was what she'd meant. She'd meant Natasha.

_Blood is thicker._

* * *

Xania knew she couldn't get there on time - couldn't get to the woman falling, the one Ultron was about to snatch out of the air - she knew she couldn't but she _had _to - she owed the woman a life debt - she _had _to -

With a crack, Xania Maximoff disappeared.

* * *

Natasha Romanoff knew she was a goner the moment Ultron flew at her. She closed her eyes, ready to die -

There was a crack and Natasha's eyes flew open to see the girl - the one with the electric blue eyes - holding onto her.

Natasha Romanoff's last thought before it all went black was _how_.

* * *

Xania appeared back in the place where the train was. It was stopped, now - probably Wanda's doing. She gasped for breath as she leaned against the wall and placed the red-headed woman on the ground. She quickly stood up, eyes wide.

"What was that?" Chorused four voices at the same time. Xania looked past the gaping woman to see Wanda, Pietro, and Captain America all staring at her with wide eyes.

"I - I don't know." Xania said, "I was on the train and then I saw Ultron about to grab her," Xania nodded to the redhead, "And then I was there and now I'm back."

Pietro got it first. Of course he did - he had the power most similar.

"Teleportation." He breathed.

There was a silence, before a voice from Captain America's com began shouting.

"Do any of you have eyes on Nat, do any of you see her-"

"I have her here." Captain America responded.

"I'm assuming you all didn't actually betray us, then." Came Stark's voice through the com. Xania froze, "Then bring it up to my place, Barton."

Captain America sighed.

"You hacked into the coms _again_?" He asked rhetorically.

"Yep." Stark said, and there was a silence on the line.

Wanda opened her mouth first, voicing all of the Maximoffs' thoughts.

"The cradle." She said.

"Stark has it now." Captain America replied, "He will take care of it."

Wanda shook her head.

"No, he won't." She replied.

"You don't know who you are talking about." Captain America replied, easily coming to the defence of someone who he was just fighting.

"He will do anything to make things right." Xania spoke up. Captain America's eyes widened as they flickered to her. He stared for a few moments before putting a hand up to his ear.

"Stark, come in. Stark."

No reply.

"Anyone on the coms?"

"Ultron can't tell the difference between saving the world and destroying it." Xania told him, lighting striking in her blue eyes, "Where do you think he gets that?"

* * *

"I'm going to say this once." Captain America said as the quintuplet walked in.

"How about nonce?" Stark replied dryly. Xania resisted the urge to slit his throat.

"Shut it down." Captain America commanded.

"Nope, not going to happen." Stark replied, ever his arrogant self.

"You don't know what you're doing." Steve said.

"And you do?" The doctor in the corner asked, glancing over to Wanda, "How do you know she's not in your head?"

Wanda opened her mouth to reply, but Stark cut her off.

"Who's the kid?" He asked, pointing to Xania. Xania clenched her hands into fists at yet again being termed as a kid, "Wait… it's the third enchanted, right? The one Natasha decided to save?"

The redhead - Natasha - nodded.

"FRIDAY, run diagnostics." He said.

"Don't you dare." Xania growled. Stark chuckled.

"Already dared and done." He replied. Xania, driven by the bubbling rage inside her, threw all caution to the wind and jumped, creating duplicates of herself as she did so. She grinned maliciously, an entirely different person than the one that was there seconds before. The scene was eerily similar to what had happened to Ultron - all of the Xanias raised a dagger to strike -

Something knocked into her and Xania was pushed to the side like a ragdoll.

All of the illusions disappeared. Xania blearily lifted her spinning head to spot a man with a red cape and long, blondish hair standing above her.

"LOKI!" He called, "Stop your mischief."

Stark looked between Xania and Thor.

"Wait…" He said, "That… that makes _sense_."

"The illusions, the dagger, appearance, personality, the whole kill Tony ordeal - it all makes sense." The doctor said, eyes narrowing at Xania, "Wait - it was _you _who made Tony see Steve betray us."

Xania stared, confused. _Loki?_

"I can find no background information on the subject, but I agree with Doctor Banner and yourself, sir." Came the AI's voice - FRIDAY, Xania recalled.

"So then let's deal with him." Stark said, advancing on Xania.

"Wait-" Wanda said, but she was cut off.

"Get in line." Came another voice, and Pietro jumped about a foot. The man with the bow stood inches from him, "What, you didn't see that coming?" He stalked towards Xania, pointing an arrow at her head.

"Wait!"

Everyone turned to see Natasha Romanoff staring at Xania.

"Wait." Romanoff said, "Then why did she - he - save me? And why can he teleport?"

Thor stared at Xania.

"I do not know why my brother does most things." Thor replied. Xania's eyes almost bulged out - Loki was _Thor's _brother? - "But teleportation is something I can explain. The Tesseract."

There was a silence, before -

"Xania _is our sister_." Wanda said, "She is not your _Loki_."

"Yeah?" Stark said, "She doesn't look like either of you. Isn't Russian, either."

Wanda and Pietro gave Stark a double glare.

"So either you've been duped or you're working with him." Stark said, "I'm inclined to think the latter."

He lifted his hand, which was encased in his suit, and pointed it at the Maximoff twins. Their eyes widened as a large weapon came out of his suit. He pointed his other arm at Xania.

"WAIT!" Xania shouted, "_Please_. I-I can explain."

"So it talks." He said dryly.

"It can hear, too." Xania replied with the same tone.

Stark looked offended that someone could outwit him. He kept his weapons pointed towards all of the Maximoffs.

Xania closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"My name is Xania." She said, "My father abandoned my mother and I before I was even born." She opened her eyes to see if Stark recognized her yet, but he was still as clueless as ever, "My mother basically treated me like I was nothing. One day, she took me on a plane to Sokovia and left me there. I was seven."

The Avengers looked a bit shocked. Barton lowered his weapon, but Stark kept his firmly pointed at her.

"I found Wanda and Pietro a couple years later. Their parents had died -" Major glaring at Stark, "But they took me in anyway. I began to call myself Xania Maximoff. Then HYDRA came to us. Said he would give us powers so we could help Sokovia. It turned out we were his lab rats - the only ones that survived. They put us in a jail cell for years. Until you all showed up. We were told to fight. We hated you more than we hated HYDRA, so we did."

Xania looked away from them. Her voice began to wobble.

"You killed a girl." She said, "An innocent, tiny little girl. Her name was Ave."

The Avengers looked horrified.

"I hate you." She said, looking at Stark, "I hate you. But I will join your cause, because it is right."

Silence. Dead silence. Xania looked over to Natasha Romanoff and saw her attempting to blink away tears.

"Yeah, nice tear-jerker." Stark said, breaking the silence, "But you're the God of Lies for a reason, Rock of Ages."

Xania was going to kill him. She had just spilled her life story and he didn't believe her - oh, Loki was _so, so right _-

"Let's table this discussion." Romanoff cut in, "We've got something else to deal with - the cradle."

"Ah, right." Thor said, and he jumped on top of it. He raised his hammer and brought it, swirling with lighting, down on the cradle.

"Wait!" Doctor Banner called.

A red body came bursting out of the cradle and _flew _over to the window. It looked outside at the city, watching it. The Avengers quickly made their way over to the body, Tony Stark waiting for Xania to get up before pushing her along, weapon not trained on her but at his side, ready to be used. The thing _grew _a yellow cape, before turning around.

"I'm sorry, that was odd." The red person said. It turned to Thor, "Thank you.

"Thor, you helped create this?" Captain America asked.

"I've had a vision." Thor replied, "A whirlpool that sucks in all hope of life and at its center it that."

Thor was pointing to the yellow gem in the red dude's head.

Xania dearly hoped they were going to destroy it.

"It's the Mind Stone." Thor explained, "One of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities.

"Then why would you bring it to…" Captain America said, voicing Xania's thoughts.

"Because Stark is right." Thor said, and Xania gaped.

"Oh, it's definitely the end of times." Doctor Banner said. Xania nodded.

"But also..." Thor said, "I saw this one."

He pointed to Xania.

"Me?" Xania squeaked.

"Yes, you, brother." Thor said, "Though you were still in your… girlish illusion."

Xania, knowing that the oaf wouldn't believe her anyways, simply rolled her eyes.

"So you're saying Loki will destroy the universe." Stark said, re-levelling his weapon and Xania, "Then let's kill him before he has a chance."

"No!" Thor roared, putting himself between Stark and Xania, "My brother… I saw him shielding himself against the stones - something that should be impossible." All of the Avengers stared at Xania, awestruck, "So… he could destroy the universe, yes, but he could also save it."

"So basically, your vision changes nothing." Barton cut in, "We'll just keep a dozen eyes on Loki. But we need to stop Ultron now, or _he'll _destroy the Earth before Loki gets around to it. The question is; are you on our side?" The question was directed at Vision.

"I don't think it's that simple." Vision said, but he was still looking at Xania with curiosity.

"Well it better get real simple real soon." Barton said.

"I am on the side of life." Vision replied, "Ultron isn't. He will end it all."

"Can I just say I agree?" Xania cut in.

"Yeah, the last time I saw you, you were attempting to dominate the world." Stark replied.

"Just so you know, Stark, dominating Earth and ending all life on Earth are two entirely separate things." Xania said, coming to Loki's defence.

"So you admit that you're Loki!" Stark crowed, doing a silly little dance. Xania groaned.

"No." She said, "I was just explaining logic to you, Stark, because it seems that you never learned it."

Stark looked offended.

"As fascinating as this conversation is, we need to go." Natasha Romanoff cut in, "Where's Ultron?" She asked.

No reply.

Xania sighed melodramatically.

"Am I the only one who does work around here?" She asked, holding her hand out to Romanoff, "Here. It's a tracker. I placed it on Ultron when you were falling out of the sky."

Romanoff took it.

"Sokovia." She said, "Ultron's in Sokovia."

Banner turned back to Vision.

"If we're wrong about you…" He said, "If you're the monster Ultron made you to be…"

Everyone in the room got the memo; they would kill him.

"I don't want to kill Ultron." The Vision started, "He's unique, and he's in pain. But that pain will roll over the earth, so he must be destroyed. Every form he's built, every trace of his presence on the net, we have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others. Maybe I am a monster. I don't think I'd know if I were one. I'm not what you are, and not what you intended. So there may be no way to make you trust me. But we need to go."

Vision held up Thor's hammer to him, before turning away and walking off.

Everyone stared in shock at his retreating back - except for Xania.

"Right." Thor said, a little awkwardly, patting Stark on the shoulder, "Well done."

"Wait, what did I miss?" Xania asked, confused.

Stark laughed.

"You seriously are going to pretend _not _to know?" He asked. When Xania didn't respond, he chuckled, "Wow, do you ever know when to stop? Like seriously, Reindeer Games."

Xania glared.

"Here, why don't you try to lift it?" Stark asked. Thor placed the hammer on the ground, "Go ahead, _Loki_."

Xania, in a rage, grabbed onto the handle and pulled with all her might.

Xania stared at the hammer in her hand, tilting her head. It was very heavy, but not so much that she couldn't lift it. Xania strained her arm muscles to pull it up even more, but, after a few seconds, she dropped it, unable to continue.

Okay, so it was like a 200 pound weight. So?

"I still don't get it."

**AN: **BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA


	10. Like the Old Man Said

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Firstly, as a warning, the next chapter will be short.

Next, **thank you to my reviewers**; . Your enthusiasm helps me write faster and be inspired! I've decided to respond to reviews because of this. I'm sorry if your review isn't responded to, but I'm only going to respond to the most recent ones (in this case, the ones from chapter nine).

To **Girlwith100names**: Thank you! This is the first part of the final battle (in Age of Ultron).

To **PrettyRecklessLaura**: Thank you for your continued support! Sorry for the delay in posting a new chapter, but I will probably update within the week.

To **ebarnea25**: Thank you for reviewing! I will probably update this week!

To** ILoveMarvel**: Thanks! I love that line as well! Xania has some flaws, but I believe that she is as worthy as Thor - or, at least, she will be.

Alright, that's it! Please read and review! Here's Chapter Nine of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Nine - Like the Old Man Said**

Xania glared at Stark as she sat on the floor of the quintjet. He'd claimed the hammer thing was another illusion, but Wanda and Pietro convinced him (threatened him) to not imprison her until he had proof.

Suddenly, Xania spotted a flicker of green in the corner of her vision. She whipped her head around to see Loki standing there.

"What?" Stark asked. Xania glanced back at him.

"Nothing." She replied, "Just thought I heard something."

Xania illusioned herself to look like she was just staring off into space and to sound like she wasn't saying anything.

"Loki!" She said after she'd done so, unable to help the giddiness that rose in her voice, "It's been awhile."

"Something came up." He said, looking around, "Why are you with them?"

"Long story short, an insane robot-type thing wants to end all life on Earth and the only way we can stop him is to join forces with the Avengers." Xania replied, "Oh, and on a side note - they think that I'm you."

Loki's eyes widened, before he started laughing.

"They - thought -"He attempted to say between chuckles. Xania stared for a moment, never before having seen the god laugh so hard. But then she narrowed her eyes.

"It isn't funny!" She shouted back, and Loki immediately shut up, looking at her with wide eyes, "Stark wants to imprison me!"

Loki cursed, before immediately starting to pace. Xania watched as he - or his illusion, at least - walked enough to burn a hole in the floor.

"Loki?" She asked, and he held a finger up, shushing her.

"Only... on Earth… aren't sure… Odin… king… Thor…" Loki muttered to himself, going in and out of volume. Finally, he turned to Xania.

"I think," He said, starting what would be a very lengthy plan, "It's time for you to meet me for real."

* * *

Xania got to the church just as Stark left. She watched him go before walking up to Ultron.

"Xania." Ultron said, "Have you come to destroy me?"

Xania smiled evilly.

"They have chained you." Ultron continued, gesturing to the handcuffs around Xania's wrists.

"They could never." Xania replied, bringing her hands apart. The handcuffs fell - they'd never been put on properly in the first place.

"You cannot stop me." Ultron said confidently, but Xania could hear a twinge of uncertainty in his robot voice.

"Oh, I am not here to stop you." Xania said, and she morphed. Illusioning herself so everyone who saw her saw the illusion, she grew a few feet, her face changed to be more angular, and her clothes changed. She brought her hands to her head and the signature golden horns grew.

"Loki." Ultron said, "It was you the whole time?"

Xania grinned.

"Mortals are too weak." She replied, "They are mere ants. They need to be wiped out. Replaced. Earth needs to evolve."

Ultron smiled, hearing his own words repeated back at him.

"So it was all a trick?" He said. Xania nodded.

"Yes." She replied, "To gain their trust while, at the same time, weakening them. All you have to do now is strike."

Ultron nodded.

"What will you replace them with?" Xania asked, stalling but attempting to look interested.

"Don't you see?" Ultron asked, staring off into the distance, "The beauty of it, the inevitability. They rose, only to fall. The Avengers are my meteor, my swift and terrible sword and the earth will crack with the weight of their failure. They try to purge me from their computers, turn my own flesh against me. It means nothing. When the dust settles, the only thing living in this world will be metal."

Xania nodded.

"Then let me join you." She said, "Let me join you and we will destroy them together."

Ultron agreed eagerly - after all, who wouldn't want a manic god on their side who had a reputation of betrayal?

Xania walked up next to Ultron, staring out at the robots.

"What's the plan?" She asked.

"K-" He started, but was cut off by Thor touching down in the church. Thor's eyes widened once he saw Xania, and Xania cursed.

"Loki!" Thor called.

"He is on my side." Ultron boasted, "Too bad you're not on good terms with your brother. He'll be such a help in killing you."

"Thanks, but I'll pass." Xania muttered, and Ultron turned, eyes wide, just in time for Mijolner to fly into her outstretched hand. She swung it at Ultron, aiming for the kill -

Thor tackled her to the ground, and the hammer fell out of her hands.

"No!" Xania said, "You utter idiot -"

"I'm not letting you get away this time." Thor called, and Xania would have smacked her head if her arm wasn't already pinned down, "Stay here, brother."

He turned to face Ultron, but the AI was already gone.

"Idiot."

All of the Avengers gathered near the church. Xania stared at them, eyes wide.

"I knew it!" Stark crowed, "I told you so!"

Xania ignored him. She was watching Wanda and Pietro. They both looked betrayed.

I'm sorry.

"You - you lied the whole time?" Wanda asked, sounding broken.

"Oh, no." Xania replied, going through with the plan even though it hurt her on the inside to see Wanda like that, "Xania was real. She was broken, so I came to her. Offered to train her in her newly-found power. She was a prodigy; learning at a rate I'd only seen once before - in me. She began to trust me. When you escaped from HYDRA, I took her back to Asgard and made her fall unconscious under a spell. She'll awake when I return and release it. Then she'll be mine. I knew she'd never survive this." Xania gestured to the destruction around her, "So I saved her. She'll be grateful, when she wakes."

Wanda and Pietro looked torn between anger, sorrow, and relief.

"But-but why would she lie?" Pietro asked after a few seconds, blinking away tears.

Xania felt a surge of guilt.

"She didn't want to." Xania replied, deviating from the planned speech, "But I insisted, told her she could eventually introduce me to you two. That we would be a family."

The Avengers looked confused. Xania cursed her emotions. Of course, Loki didn't sound like that. He didn't believe in family.

"Of course, that was a lie." Xania continued, "Family is overrated."

Pietro and Wanda looked like someone was stabbing them and twisting the knife.

Family isn't overrated we can be family just hold on please

There was a long, drawn out silence.

"I know you're hurt." Rogers said, turning to talk to Pietro and Wanda, who were looking at the ground, "But we need to finish this. We'll deal with Loki later, and get your sister back." Wanda and Pietro looked up, a bit of hope shining in their eyes, "The question is," He looked at Xania, "Are you on our side?"

Xania, filled with a bit of hope that this could work, rolled her eyes, acting a bit more like her normal self.

"I literally just tried to kill Ultron." She said, "But I was stopped by this buffoon."

Thor was smart enough to look sheepish.

"Anyways, how would I dominate a race that doesn't exist?" Xania said with a Loki - like smirk.

"Well, let's kill him now." Rogers said, ignoring Xania's second comment.

Stark pointed at the drill.

"This is the drill." He said, "If Ultron gets a hand on the core, we lose."

All of the sudden, there was a loud noise. Everyone turned to see that Ultron was flying a few yards away.

Thor snorted.

"Is that the best you can do?"

Ultron raised his hand, and an army of robots crawled from underneath cars and from the side of buildings.

"This is the best I can do." Ultron said, "Exactly what I wanted - all of me against all of you."

He stared at Xania while he said it.

"You had to ask." Xania and Rogers said at the same time.

"This is the best I can do." Ultramarines said, gesturing to his army, "This is exactly what I wanted. All of you against all of me. How can you possibly hope to stop me?"

Stark looked around. Everyone had formed a circle around the drill.

"Well, like the old man said. Together."

The robots launched into acting, dive bombing the church, but they were ready. Xania creates multiple illusions of herself and teleported everywhere. She drove her dagger into a robot, and then teleported to the next. She was a blur through the Avengers, making sure to keep up her illusion the entire time.

Then it was just Ultron.

Vision, Stark, and Thor started shooting beams at them. Xania ran over to help, thrusting her hands forward and concentrating. She channeled all of her emotion, all of her love, hate, desire to survive to Ultron.

Yes, he was a robot, and he shouldn't be able to feel pain. But he wasn't just a robot. He was an A.I. He was more than a robot. And Xania could make him feel pain.

A ray of black came out of Xania's hands and hit Ultron. He immediately started withering.

And then, when it looked like Ultron wasn't capable of doing anything, they stopped. Xania stared at her hands, confused as to how she just did what she just did. It had seemed so right…

"You know, with the benefit of hindsight…" Ultron said weakly.

The Hulk knocked him into the sky.

The remaining robots turned and fled - off of the flying city.

"We can't let a single bot leave." Stark commanded, "Rhodey!"

"On it." Came a voice, and a large, grey, man-shaped can-type thing came into view, blasting some of the robots out of the sky. Stark and Vision lifted off of the ground and flew to help, leaving the remaining Avengers grounded.

"We got to move out." Rogers said to the rest of them, "Even I can tell the air is getting thin." It was true, everyone was out of breath - more than they should be from just finishing a fight with thousands of robots, "You guys get to the boats, I'll sweep for stragglers, be right behind you."

"What about the core?" The man with the bow - Barton - asked.

"I'll protect it." Wanda announced, stepping up, "It's my job."

A glance that Xania didn't understand was exchanged between Batron and her sister.

"Nat, let's go." Barton said as he turned away, speaking to Natasha, "You as well." He said more sharply to Xania.

"I will be there in a moment." Xania replied, "I would like to have a word with the Maximoffs."

Barton narrowed his eyes suspiciously.

"Do not worry." Wanda told him, "We can stop him if he tries something."

Wanda and Barton exchanged another one of those looks, and then Barton turned away. The three left.

"If you win," Xania told them, "I will make sure you see your sister again."

Pietro and Wanda looked confused at her generosity.

"She would kill me otherwise." Xania continued to cover up, "At least, attempt to."

Wanda and Pietro nodded, before turning to each other and ignoring who they thought was Loki.

"Get the people on the boats." Wanda said to Pietro.

"I'm not going to leave you here." Pietro replied, extra concerned for his sister now that he thought he had lost one. Pietro's concern made Xania's heart reach out to them, but she restrained from saying anything and blowing her cover.

"I can handle these." Wanda replied, lifting her hand and blasting off an approaching robot, "Come back for me when everyone else is off, and not before."

"Hmm." Pietro muttered.

"You understand?" Wanda asked commandingly.

"You know, I'm twelve minutes older than you." Pietro commented with a smile.

Wanda chuckled, smiling.

"Go." She said, and Pietro zoomed off.

And then it was just the two of them. Wanda's gaze darkened. Xania turned to go.

Xania looked back at Wanda, who was staring at her, one last time. The look of hate her sister gave her made Xania want to forgo the whole plan. But she couldn't - everything depended on it. But Xania knew what she was going to do as the idea entered her brain, and she couldn't stop herself, even though she tried desperately, so so desperately to stop her mouth from moving but her brain had been taken over by her heart and she couldn't stop herself -

I'm sorry Loki

"Wanda." Xania whispered, "We have a bond, maybe? A sisterhood?"

Wanda's eyes widened as it struck her.

"I'll be back." Xania promised, before racing off, "I promise."


	11. A Soul For A Soul

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Firstly, as a warning, this chapter will be short. Second, **the next chapter will be the end of Age of Ultron**. The story will continue throughout some of the next movies.

Next, **thank you to my reviewers**; . Your enthusiasm helps me write faster and be inspired! I've decided to respond to reviews because of this. I'm sorry if your review isn't responded to, but I'm only going to respond to the most recent ones (in this case, the ones from chapter ten - including the prolouge).

To **PrettyRecklessLaura**: Thank you for your continued support!

To** ILoveMarvel**: Thanks for reviewing! The next chapter will be the end of Age of Ultron, and you can expect more Loki in the future!

To **YvetteHGranger**: Thanks for reviewing! You'll get your wish in this chapter!

Alright, that's it! Please **read and review**! Here's Chapter Ten of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Ten - A Soul For A Soul**

Xania turned from staring at the screaming woman when she heard the bullets raining down.

Xania turned to see Pietro above the man with the bow and a small child.

"You didn't see that coming." He said to the bow-man. That's when Xania saw them. The multiple bullet wounds. The blood. The acceptance of death.

Xania raced over to her brother, catching him as he fell and setting him on the cracked ground.

"Sister…" Pietro whispered, and Xania realized that she was in her normal form. She didn't care. She'd think of a lie later.

"I'm here." Xania said, trying to be comforting, "I'm here, brother."

"I-" Pietro started, before coughing up some blood, his mind too pain-filled to remember the whole Loki stunt, "I love you, little sister."

"I love you too." Xania replied, blinking away tears. She was crying, now.

Pietro smiled.

Pietro took a deep, rattling breath.

Pietro closed his eyes.

She froze.

She put her hand on his heart.

…

…

…

Nothing.

Then she screamed, and everything was cloaked in blackness. Other screams joined the symphony, but she couldn't hear them, couldn't hear anything - couldn't see anything but him - this was so, so much worse than Ave, so much worse - she couldn't stop - couldn't stop screaming, stop crying, stop hurting - it was a thousand knives stabbing her and twisting and then stabbing her again and again and again and they weren't stopping - she had stopped feeling, stopped caring for anything else - all she knew was that she wanted him back - come back, Pietro, come back come back _come back_ -

There was a crack like lightning, and Xania Maximoff disappeared off the face of the Earth.

* * *

She was kneeling on top of a mountain.

"Hello, Xania Maximoff." Came a voice. She turned, hollow, to see a man in a black cloak standing before her. He had a red skull for a face.

She didn't care.

She said nothing.

"You wish for your brother to come back." He said. She nodded, eyes staring unseeingly at him, "You wish to put his soul back into his body."

A spark flared in her eyes, flared in her.

"Yes." She whispered, her voice coming out as a broken, raspy whisper. Broken. She was broken.

"There is a way." The skull-man said, "But it comes with a price."

Xania's eyes flashed with hope.

"Name it." She replied, willing to pay anything.

The skull-man stared at her with his sunken eyes.

"Follow me."

They climbed up the mountain. It must have taken hours, but it felt like mere minutes to Xania. She had hope. She had a purpose.

They got to the top of the mountain. There was a platform, a large, stone temple-type thing, and a large cliff.

"It requires a sacrifice." The skull-man said grimly, "A sacrifice of someone you love. A soul for a soul."

Xania stared. There was almost no one she loved. Pietro - dead. Wanda - not there - and she would never make the choice to sacrifice one of her siblings for another. And…

A lightbulb went off in Xania Maximoff's head.

Xania took a deep breath and stepped forward.

She didn't look back to see the skull-man's expression, but if she did, she would have seen shock, surprise, and a bit of awe.

But Xania didn't look back.

She stepped off of the edge of the cliff.


	12. Goodbye

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**A/N:** Firstly, as a warning, this chapter will be a bit short. Second, **this chapter will be the end of Age of Ultron**. The story will continue throughout some of the next movies.

Next, **thank you to my reviewers**; . Your enthusiasm helps me write faster and be inspired! I've decided to respond to reviews because of this. I'm sorry if your review isn't responded to, but I'm only going to respond to the most recent ones (in this case, the ones from chapter eleven - including the prolouge).

To **PrettyRecklessLaura**: Thank you for your continued support! You'll figure out what happens to Xania in this chapter!

To **ebarnea25**: Thank you for reviewing!

Alright, that's it! Please **read and review**! Here's Chapter Eleven of the Stark Legacy:

**Chapter Eleven - Goodbye**

Clint Barton stared at the two bodies on the floor next to him. Loki, who was somehow still in his little - girl form, and Pietro Maximoff, who had sacrificed himself to save Clint.

Clint knew he should get up, should look away, but he couldn't. He could only stare at the dead boy and the dead boy's little sister - no, Loki - who was still slightly glowing with blackness.

So Clint saw when Loki flashed orange.

And Clint Barton saw the dead boy take a breath.

* * *

Xania opened her eyes to see that she was in a lake. She looked up and saw the mountain she's just climbed. Behind it was a pinkish, purplish sky.

Xania's gaze was drawn back to the lake she was sitting in. An orange, glowing pebble floated out of it and towards her. Xania reached out a hand to grab it, but it was as if she was a ghost. The pebble floated through her hand and moved into her body where her heart was. Xania suddenly felt a glow inside of her. She noticed she was glowing orange. The pebble came back out and floated back into the lake.

And in that moment, somehow, Xania knew that Pietro was alive.

She could _feel_ it.

So she stood up, turned on the spot, and teleported to her brother.

* * *

Something flared in Wanda.

_Pietro is alive._

She jerked from shock, making Vision look down at her.

"Are you alright?" The red man asked as he paused. The rubble flew down around them.

Wanda did not reply. She simply threw out her hands and pushed with all of her mind. Streaks of read came out of her hands as she pushed herself forward, flying towards what she knew was her living brother.

Vision flew beside her, looking confused.

That's when a gigantic boulder fell out of the sky.

Wanda dodged to the left and continued, intent on her goal.

Pietro was alive.

That was the only thing that mattered.

* * *

Xania gasped, opening her eyes. She shot up, looking around frantically. She was on one of the transportation ships headed to the main SHIELD ship. A shocked-looking Clint Barton sat on the bench to the side of her. And below him…

Pietro.

He was sitting up as well, and looking around blearily. All of his bullet wounds were gone - the only sign that they were ever there were the holes in his shirt. His eyes met Xania's and he launched himself at her.

"Sister." He whispered.

Pietro was alive.

Xania opened her mouth to reply when her gaze caught Clint's. Her mind battling against her heart, she stiffened and illusioned herself to turn back into Loki.

Pietro stumbled back, skidding on his hands.

"No…" He said, remembering.

Xania was about to say something when Wanda flew out of the sky and landed on the ship. She tackled Pietro, crying and blabbering. Pietro hugged her back.

"You're alive." Wanda said into his tear-stained shirt, "You're alive."

Both Clint and Xania slowly backed away - Clint because he didn't want to ruin the moment someone else was having, and Xania because she didn't want to think about the moment she could have had.

"Loki." Barton started, "What did you do?"

Xania just stared at him as they were encloaked in the shadow of the SHIELD ship.

_What did I do?_

* * *

Xania was sitting alone at the side of the ship, Barton, Stark, as well as at least a dozen SHIELD agents keeping an eye on her from the distance.

Xania looked up as she heard heavy footsteps coming towards her. Thor stood above her, glaring down.

"Brother." Thor said, "I thought you dead."

Xania scoffed, attempting to do the best Loki-like impression.

"Well, you thought the Maximoff boy dead as well." Xania replied haughtily, "What is the difference, really, dead or alive?"

Xania hated saying it, because there was a difference. Dead was awful. Alive was wonderful.

Thor growled.

"I can't believe you're still alive! I saw you die. I mourned you. I cried for you."

Xania remembered the story Loki had told her, once, when she was plagued with nightmares and couldn't fall back asleep. She'd thought it was made up, but now…

"_Once there was a family. This family was called perfect, except for the little boy. He was adopted, he was a misfit. He was called evil, he was called the only thing wrong with the family. But he wasn't. The family never accepted him, pushing him away as they said he was one of them, as they said that he was accepted. They never let him become king, even though he wanted to. He wanted to show that he was better than his brother, better than his father. He wanted to show that he was something that he wasn't evil, that he wasn't a misfit. _

_One day, when he tried to show them, he fell. He was dangling from the edge of a cliff, the only thing keeping him from falling was his brother. And his brother let go."_

_Xania's eyebrows furrowed._

"_Why would he do that?" She asked._

_Loki sighed._

"_No one truely knows, but the boy suspected his brother wanted his threat to the throne, to his parent's affections, gone."_

"_That's awful." Xania said._

_Loki nodded heavily._

"_I know." He said, "And then the boy - who was now a man - got captured by an evil giant. A titan. The titan tasked the man with getting a very powerful object, and gave him a very powerful object to help. The man didn't want to; the titan had asked him to do something very evil. But the powerful object influenced him, had him doing things against his will. So the man did it, but failed in his quest."_

"_Why?"_

"_A group of powerful beings stopped him, including his brother. They broke the influence-spell on the man without knowing it ever existed. They claimed him evil, and put him in jail."_

_Xania frowned._

"_This story isn't happy." She said._

_Loki shook his head._

"_No." He replied, "But wait. The man faked his death. His brother left the kingdom in search of a magical object, so the man became king. The people prospered under his rule - and are now still prospering."_

"_But I thought the people hated him." Xania said, confused._

"_He pretends to be his adopted father while ruling." Loki confessed, "So his people will not be biased against him."_

_Xania smiled._

"_You made up that story, didn't you?" She asked. Loki paused for half a second before nodding, "I can tell. It has mischief and misunderstanding in it. It's such a you thing to tell."_

"_But it was a bad story." Loki said in realization, "It'll probably cause you more nightmares."_

_Xania shook her head and closed her eyes._

"_No." She said, "Because I know the man will be redeemed. He has to, right? Because he didn't do anything wrong."_

_Xania didn't see Loki's expression of surprise and uncertainty as she fell asleep._

Xania quirked her eyebrow in disbelief.

"I'm… honored?" She replied.

Thor gave a frustrated grunt and stormed away.

Xania closed her eyes.

Loki was right.

* * *

"You know, Fury won't like the idea of a maniac god of mischief escaping his clutches again." Stark said to Thor as he lifted his hammer.

"Loki will be dealt with by Asgard." Thor replied, "Not your Migardians."

"Yeah, and that worked out so well last time." Barton said from the side.

"You will bring back the Maximoff girl, right?" Rogers asked Thor, speaking for Pietro and Wanda. They hadn't been included in the send-off, for Pietro was being checked up in the hospital. Xania was thankful for that - Wanda knew about Xania's illusion, and if she was here… if she knew Xania was leaving… the whole plan might be foiled.

"Yes." Thor said, "Well, I believe it is time for me to leave."

Thor lifted his hammer and grasped Xania's arm tightly.

"Goodbye, my friends."

_Goodbye, Wanda. Goodbye, Pietro._

The two disappeared in a rainbow colored light.

* * *

"Wait a second…" Steve said, looking around, "Where's Vision?"


	13. What Girl?

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**Chapter Twelve - What Girl?**

Thanos sighed as the messenger frightfully delivered the news.

"Humans." He said, "Fine. I'll do it myself."

He stood, bringing his gauntlet up in a dramatic pose.

"Um - sir?"

Thanos turned and glared at the messenger. It had ruined his moment!

"You have ten seconds to give me something good before you're dead." Thanos informed the messenger, his voice full of danger and exasperation.

"Um, well, sir, there's a girl." The messenger squeaked out.

Thanos' mind went straight to Gamora. But then - those power spikes he'd felt - and the disturbance in Death that had occurred just days ago -

"_What girl_?"


	14. Our Vision

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**AN: **Firstly, there is about a **three year gap between the end of Age of Ultron and the beginning of Infinity War**, and that will be the next part of my story. You can think of the three years as a movie, if that helps you, for my story won't cover one movie from the MCU during that period of time like it did for Age of Ultron.

Secondly, sorry about not replying to reviews on the previous chapter, but it was really just too short for me to do so - the AN would be longer than the chapter! **I'll reply to both chapter twelve and chapter thirteen reviews here**.

**Thank you to my reviewers**. Your enthusiasm helps me write faster and be inspired! I've decided to respond to reviews because of this. I'm sorry if your review isn't responded to, but I'm only going to respond to the most recent ones (in this case, the ones from chapter eleven - including the prolouge).

To **PrettyRecklessLaura**: Thank you for your continued support!

To **YvetteHGranger:** Thank you for reviewing! Thanks for getting the Star Wars reference!

Alright, that's it! Please **read and review**! Here's Chapter Eleven of the Stark Legacy:

* * *

**Chapter Thirteen - Our Vision**

With a whoosh, Thor and "Loki" appeared in a room. It was circular. There were nine window-like-circles that showed space - planets, stars, black matter and more, through them. In the center of the room was an odd-looking man that was holding a sword. The man had orangish eyes that seemed not to see yet see everything at the same time.

"Heimdall." Thor said, "Good to see you, my old friend."

Heimdall's eyes didn't leave Xania. She shifted nervously, not knowing what to do. Loki hadn't told her about Heimdall - after all, they'd had limited time to plan.

"Ah." Thor continued, following Heimdall's gaze, "I found Loki on Midgard - he was pretending to be a little girl that he captured, for reasons I do not understand."

Heimdall continued to stare at Xania. Xania wondered if he could see through her illusion. She focused everything she could on making her illusion the strongest it had ever been.

"I wonder how he escaped my sight for so long." Heimdall finally said, looking into Xania's eyes.

"You must be losing your touch in your old age." Xania commented, drawing herself up, "Though I doubt you could have found me in your prime."

Thor glared at Xania.

"Brother…" He said dangerously, "Stop these games."

"Games?" Xania said, her voice incredulous and egotistic, "Oh, what I do are much more than games, _brother_."

She injected as much sarcasm as she could into her last word, and gave Loki's signature I-know-something-you-don't grin.

Heimdall looked away from Xania, focusing on something off into one of the windows.

Thor growled, grabbing Xania's arm.

"Come." He said, "Odin will punish you fittingly."

Xania faked a half second of fear, before putting a masking her emotions. On the inside, she was grinning from ear to ear.

Oh, she was such a good actor.

* * *

Xania tried not to stare too much, but Asgard was truly beautiful. The rainbow bridge from the Bifrost room was just… wow. The towns fit right in with the palace, which was a shiny gold color. The palace itself looked magnificent; towering over everything and shining in the sunlight. Everything looked so perfect… and that was why Xania feared it.

Xania pretended to know where she was going, but she was truly watching where Thor went. Eventually, they got to the front yard of the palace. "Odin" was waiting there. He had an eyepatch over one of his eyes, had grey hair, was wearing a majestic outfit, and had a crown perched on his head.

"My son." He said, addressing Thor.

"Father." Thor replied, "I have found Loki."

"More like I found you." Xania muttered to herself.

"I suspected…" "Odin" said, staring at Xania, "But I did not know he was still alive."

Thor nodded.

"Trust me, he will serve a fitting punishment." "Odin" continued, "As his first obviously did not teach him, his second will be… greater."

Xania thought of what would happen if she was caught to let fear flash in her eyes. She quickly masked it, however, standing up straighter and looking as egotistical as ever.

"You cannot chain me forever." She said, pretending to hold back her fear.

"I know." "Odin" replied, "But I can for as long as it takes for you to realize your mistakes."

Xania was silent.

"Father." Thor interrupted, "On Migard, I discovered something. I wish to go back to make sure it is safe, before searching for others in the galaxy."

"Odin" nodded.

"Go, my son." He replied.

"But there is one more thing." Thor said, "THere is a girl from Migard here that Loki captured."

Xania took a breath.

_Here we go._

She dissolved into laughter.

Thor's face went deadly serious.

"What. Did. You. Do."

Xania waited for a moment before letting her laughs die down.

"You really think I kept a _Migardian _girl alive?" Xania said.

"You _killed _her?" Thor replied, "Loki-"

"Don't _Loki _me." Xania replied, cutting him off, "Why do you think I spun that tale? There was no other way. They would have killed me. Well, tried to."

Thor's eyes flashed.

"She was just a child-"

"Loki will be dealt with." "Odin" interrupted gravely, "I trust you will deliver this news to your friends on Migard?"

Thor nodded gravely. He gave one last glare to "Loki", before turning, bringing up his hammer, and flying off.

"Loki." "Odin" said, mischief uncharacteristically flashing in his eyes, "Come with me."

Xania walked beside "Odin" into the palace. They went up a few flights of stairs before coming to two large doors. "Odin" opened them to reveal a gigantic, elegant room - one fit for a king.

"In." He commanded. Xania did as she was told. "Odin" stepped inside, closed the doors, and locked them with a click.

"What acting skills you have." Loki said as they both took their illusions off, "Apparently, you even fooled Heimdall."

Xania rushed at Loki, tackling her friend in a hug. Loki stiffened, before slowly putting his arms around the smaller girl. Xania buried her face in his chest, squeezing him tighter.

"Are you… alright?" Loki asked tentatively.

Xania looked up at him, her eyes shimmering.

"Is this real?" She asked.

Loki nodded.

_Don't cry don't cry don't cry_

"I'm sorry." Xania suddenly burst out, "I lied to all of them and they believed it - even Pietro and Wanda - but then Wanda looked so broken - and Ultron was there - and I didn't know if I would live - or if she would - or if Pietro would - he ended up dying but now he's alive - I couldn't stop myself - I'm sorry - " The rest of Xania's words became incomprehensible as she dissolved into tears. Xania didn't even know why she was crying! - she shouldn't have been! She was strong! She didn't _cry_!

"Woah, woah." Loki said, "Slow down. You're incomprehensible."

A few more sobs wracked Xania's body, but she forced herself to calm down. Eventually, her sobs turned into tears. She pulled away to wipe away the last ones.

"I'm sorry about your shirt." Xania said as she saw the state of Loki's shirt - very, very wet.

"It's fine." Loki found himself saying, "Now, start from the beginning."

* * *

Wanda stared into the casket where the red, broken Vision lay. He'd gone out of his way to save her - and she had let a city collapse on him.

Wanda was failing at everything. She let Pietro die, she let Vision die, and she let Xania leave.

"We are here to respect and celebrate the memory of Vision." Steve said, gesturing at the pieces that not even Tony Stark could repair, "But there is something important we should discuss - something that he would want us to discuss."

Wanda looked up.

"The Mind Stone." Bruce Banner continued, "Thor said it was one of the Infinity Stones."

"One of the six Infinity Stones, the greatest power in the universe, unparalleled in its destructive capabilities." Stark quoted.

Everyone stared at the small, shining, yellow gem in what was Vision's forehead.

"So what are we going to do with it?" Clint Barton asked as there was a flash of rainbow-colored light. They all blinked as Thor came walking towards them, hammer in hand and Xania nowhere in sight.

"Good question, man of arrows." Thor said, his cape billowing behind him as he stepped up to the casket, "We need to protect it."

There was a silence.

"So who's going to keep it, then?" Steve asked, breaking the silence, "Obviously not Stark."

"Obviously not you either, star-spangled man." Stark shot back.

"Now, let's not-" Bruce said, trying to be the mediator. That's when everything burst into chaos. The Avengers shouted over each other, trying to say who should or should not be the protector of the stone. Pietro and Wanda sat together in silence

"Vision." Wanda whispered, but it was loud enough for everyone to hear. She stared at the man in the casket as they all quieted, "Vision should keep it."

"Vision is dead." Barton pointed out.

Wanda looked up. So did Pietro.

"So?" He said, "We can bury it with him."

"We'd bury the secret with him." Natasha realized, "The only people who'd know where it is would be us."

She looked around the room.

"Can we trust each other?" Natasha asked.

Everyone looked around the room. Stark's gaze stopped on Rogers, and Rogers' on him. Pietro and Wanda stared at Stark for a while. There was a long silence.

"Yes."

* * *

Pietro caught Thor's arm as he attempted to leave. Wanda was right behind him.

"Where. Is. Xania."

* * *

"Woah." Xania said, looking at Loki's hidden stash of his stuff and immediately going for the golden horned helmet.

"Be careful!" Loki warned. Xania paid him no heed, plopping the helmet on her head and turning around to look at Loki.

"It doesn't fit." She said disappointedly as the helmet slipped to one side or the other. Loki's eyes widened as it slipped a little too far. He launched himself to the floor, ready to catch the helmet when it fell. Xania simply pushed it back up and stepped away, leaving Loki looking like an idiot. Xania laughed at the sight of the "so mighty" man on the floor in a superman position, hands outstretched to catch something that wasn't there. Loki glowered at her as he stood up. He snatched the helmet from her head before she could move to stop him.

"Hey!" Xania said, "I like it!"

Loki looked back at her.

"I will not allow a child to mess with my outfit." He announced, attempting to look dignified after he stole a hat from a child. At that thought, Xania wondered if he'd ever stolen candy from a baby.

Xania decided to try a tactic - one of the oldest tricks in the book.

Xania widened her eyes. She stuck her bottom lip out.

Basically, she was giving Loki a childish puppy-dog look.

"As if that silly trick would work on me!" Loki said, snorting.

Xania forced tears into her eyes and let her bottom lip wobble.

"That doesn't work… on… me…" Loki repeated, his confidence fading with every word.

Xania looked straight into Loki's eyes.

"Please?" She asked quietly.

"Doesn't work…" Loki whispered.

A tear fell down the side of Xania's face. Loki's gaze followed it.

"Loki?"

Loki held out his helmet with a trembling hand.

Xania grabbed it with a grin.

"YES!" She shouted, doing a happy dance, "Victory for Xania! The mighty Loki has fallen!"

Loki realized that he, the god of trickery, been tricked. He reached out a hand to grab his helmet back, but Xania danced away, placing it on her head.

"I am the new God of Trickery, Lies, and Mischief!" Xania called, "Loki has lost his touch - the old man!"

Loki looked _very _offended.

Xania grinned.

"Old man! Loki is an old man who can't catch me! Hah! You missed, old man! Lalala, you missed! Lalalallala, Loki is an old man, an old man, an old man! Ha! You can't catch me! You can't illusion me out of it, either! Ha-"

Xania froze.

_You can't illusion me out of it_

_Illusion me out_

_Illusion me_

The helmet fell off her head and clattered to the ground

_I am the new God of Trickery, Lies, and Mischief!_

_Mischief_

_Tickery_

_Lies_

Xania felt herself fall into something

_I tricked _

_I lied_

Someone was holding her, now

_I left them_

Someone was calling her name

_Wanda_

_Pietro_

Someone was pulling her up somewhere

_Why did you leave us?_

_You left us_

"Xan…" She couldn't hear, "X…"

_You're no Maximoff_

"Xania _don't leave me_."

The desperation in the voice pulled her back.

She was on the bed, looking up at a scared face.

"Loki?"

Loki sagged in relief, before wrapping his arms around Xania.

It was the first time he'd ever initiated a hug.

"S-sorry about y-your h-helmet." Xania stuttered, suddenly feeling awful about the whole incident.

"It's alright." Loki soothed, calling on comforting skills he didn't realize he had, " You're more important."

"Really?" Xania asked, her tears slowly drying up and her face shining with hope.

"Really." Loki affirmed.

And he meant it.

* * *

_HERE LIES OUR VISION_

"_We have to act now. And not one of us can do it without the others."_


	15. Good Things Never Last

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**AN: **I'm so sorry for the delay! Life got really busy and the days started slipping without fan fiction... but I'm back! This chapter is a bit short, but the next will hopefully be longer.

**Chapter Fourteen - Good Things Never Last**

"Xania is dead." Thor replied.

Wanda and Pietro looked at eachother.

"But she was-"

"Loki tricked us all." Thor replied, "He killed Xania as soon as she got to Asgard."

Wanda's eyes watered. So Xania has left them, only to be killed by the man she was pretending to be?

It was all Wanda's fault.

She had let her go.

—-

"Let me go!" Xania said, pulling away from Loki, "It's perfect enough!"

Loki had spent the last hour making Xania's outfit (as Loki, of course) look spectacular yet undercover. No one would be able to tell Loki - or rather, Xania - was Loki until they looked underneath the hood, and Xania was dressed as a normal Asgardian so she would fit in with the townsfolk, but the small golden adornments showed that this Asgardian was no normal person. The outfit was perfect - as was the plan.

"Hush, young one." Loki said with a grin, illusioning himself into Odin.

"Hush yourself." Xania snarked back.

"Ooh." Loki replied, making one of his signature expressions. It looked very odd on Odin's face.

"Let's go, old man." Xania said, turning away so she didn't see Loki's outrage, "I have a kingdom to win over."

Hours later, Xania was wondering if she'd ever find a way to win the kingdom over. Other than doing a few small things that weren't good enough for her to show her face, Xania hadn't come across trouble. Xania absentmindedly picked up a dropped apple and handed it back to the owner when a shriek drew her out of her thoughts. Xania raced towards the sound and saw a woman pointing downwards, off of a cliff, to a falling bundle of blankets. The woman's wailing was joined by another - the baby in the bundle.

Oh no.

Xania jumped, the plan gone from her mind. She didn't care about winning the woman over - it was awful for a baby to die this way. Xania's robes billowed as she neared the falling bundle. She stretched her arms out. She was so close, but the ground was nearing fast - thirty feet, twenty feet, ten feet, less than that -

"Got you!" Xania cried, grabbing onto one of the baby's flailing arms.

_Now._

With a crack, Xania teleported back up to the top of the cliff, out of breath.

It was a good thing adrenaline helped with powers, because if it didn't, they would both be dead.

The woman, along with a crowd of people gathered, stared at Xania in shock.

Right. The plan.

Xania made sure her illusion was still holding up as she neared the woman. She held out the baby, who was now staring up at Xania in shock.

"Here you go, madam." Xania said, shifting a bit, "You'll want to give your child some after-shock medicine, maybe go to the doctor to see if she - it is a she, no? - is alright."

It was just then when a breeze past by and Xania's hood "accidentally" fell off.

The crowd gasped.

'Loki' handed back the baby, pretending not to notice.

"You-you're-"

"Loki?" 'Loki' said with 'his' trademark grin, "Yes, I know."

"But - but you risked your life to save my baby!" The woman objected, eyes wide.

"I did indeed." 'Loki' replied, "Children are most important. I could not let one die without attempting to save it."

The woman's eyes were wide, but a smile slowly spread across her face.

"Thank you, my prince." She said, "I will forever be indebted to you."

Another gasp from the crowd. Who would willingly be in debt of Loki, after all?

"Ah, there is no need for that." 'Loki' replied, smiling. Another gasp - Asgard didn't know Loki was capable of smiling, "I do not require a life debt for a child - for anyone, for that matter. Life is very precious, and I want all of Asgard to prosper with it."

'Loki' held his head high.

"Now, I must be going." 'Loki' continued, grinning, "Good day."

'Loki' disappeared in a flash of blue light.

By the next morning, all of Asgard had heard the news. They were confused, yes, but also very grateful. Half the population seemed to think that it was some sort of trick, which it was, and the other half believed that maybe Loki had changed - or was still changing. All of them, however, kept an eye out for a man dressed with golden adornments.

When Xania appeared the next day, walking around the market, people quickly recognized her. The whole square was abuzz as she bought a loaf of bread and a bit of meat for a poor boy to bring back for his family, telling him to be safe and thank Odin. The boy, who recognized 'Loki' and was too stunned to reply simply nodded before running off, a giddy smile on his face.

Xania knew the whole square had been watching, but when she turned back, they quickly looked to their work, pretending as if they didn't recognize the 'god of mischief'. And on the day went, each act of kindness responded to similarly.

By the end of the day, Xania had only done minor acts to help, but, now that the people knew what to look for, they recognized them. But Xania found that she cared less and less about the act and more and more about the cheerful faces of those she offered aid to. It wasn't an act, really, as she smiled back at a little girl who was staring at her. The only pretending was the skin Xania wore, reminding her that she had a purpose.

A week passed, every day full of smiles and joy. Asgard slowly warmed up to 'Loki', some even stopping to say, "hello," or, "thank you for everything". Meanwhile, as Loki's image prospered from actions, 'Odin' dropped ever-so subtle hints about how Loki was growing up and getting kinder.

Another plus was that Xania hadn't thought about Earth that much since the last incident, and therefore didn't have another freak out. But all good things are bound to end, and, on day thirteen of the plan, Xania approached Loki as her real self.

"When can I go back?"

Loki's face became a cold mask, one that Xania had tried ever so hard to break when she was alone with him.

"Why?" He asked, "Why would you want to go back to that… place? Asgard is so much better."

"Asgard doesn't have Wanda or Pietro." Xania informed him steadily, keeping her emotions at bay.

Loki was silent for a few moments, before;

"Well, Earth doesn't have me." He objected.

"Loki," Xania started, her voice wobbling a bit, "I came here to visit you, to get out of the Avengers' grasp alive and unjailed."

"The Avengers will find you if you go back." Loki replied.

"They think I'm _dead_!" Xania said, desperation slipping into her voice, "They won't even look!"

Loki was silent. He did not meet Xania's eyes.

"I need to go back to my family." Xania whispered, and Loki's mask cracked.

"I thought we were family." He whispered back, betrayal evident on his face.

Xania took two steps and crushed Loki into a hug.

"We are." She said, "But I need _all _of my family."

Loki's arms slowly slipped around Xania.

"Why don't you bring Wanda and Pietro here?" He asked, and Xania pulled back, a look of surprise on her face, "Then we won't have to hide on Earth. As soon as the plan is completed, I'll become myself. We'll pretend Odin died. And then I can allow three visitors from Earth in."

"I - I hadn't thought about that." Xania said, her face glowing and her eyes sparking, "That _works_! We can all be a family together! And we can live without the Avengers! Thank you so, so much! You're the best, Dad!"

Loki's eyes widened to saucer-size. Xania's did too, when she realized what she said.

"I'm sorry I didn't realize-"

"No." Loki replied softly, a new expression taking over his face, "I like it."

Xania smiled widely.

"Me too." She replied, and they, father and daughter in everything but blood, hugged again.

Of course, good things never last.


	16. Gone

**Disclaimer:** I do not own MARVEL; that credit goes to Stan Lee, Kevin Feige, and Disney.

**AN: This story is back of hiatus (wooooo!) It took me awhile to get the energy back to write this, but here I am with an extra-long chapter! Happy reading!**

**Chapter Fifteen - Gone**

Time passed. Each day away from her brother and sister seemed to be longer than the last, but Xania battled through, reminding herself that as soon as she won Asgard over she could have a family again.

Whenever she thought back to her last months on Earth, they all seemed like a blur. It was just one thing after another - Ave, the Avengers, Ultron, Sokovia, saving Pietro's life, pretending to be Loki… everything happened so fast. It was like, hey, you have this family now, and if you want to protect them, you have to leave.

Xania stared up at the ceiling of her room.

Ave. She'd been hurt by Hydra, just like Xania had. Just like… Xania's siblings had. An image of Wanda and Pietro pooped into Xania's mind, sneering and saying she was no sister if she left them, and Xania closed her eyes. But that didn't help at all. Wanda and Pietro became more pronounced.

"Better leave me dead than leave me!" Pietro shouted.

"You were _never _part of the Maximoffs, if you chose to leave us so easily!" Wanda said at the same volume.

"I didn't!" Xania protested, "I-"

"You left us for someone you had never even met." Wanda interrupted, gaze fierce.

"The Avengers would have killed me!" Xania said, tears forming in her eyes.

"If you were truly a part of our family, we would never have let that happen!" Wanda screamed back, "You're a LIAR, Xania Stark!"

Xania reeled back.

"Just like your father!" Pietro added, "You are just like him. Stark. You're just as bad as him. We should have expected it."

Xania had no words.

"You are." Another voice said. Xania turned to see Ave there, glaring at her, "You couldn't save me. You promised me that, when you were free, you would destroy Stark, destroy the Avengers. And you _let them go without trying_. You left your promise, left your family, left your purpose, left your world for this one person."

"Why?" They all asked at once.

"Did you think he would love you like a father?" Pietro asked, "He's _using_ you."

"No he isn't!" Xania shouted, finally finding her voice.

"You don't even _know _him." Wanda interjected.

"Yes I do!" Xania said, "I do know him, I do, I _do_! You guys aren't even real! Wanda and Pietro wouldn't say this! Ave wouldn't say this! GO AWAY!"

The three slowly disappeared as if they were dusted.

One, two, three-

And then they were gone.

Xania opened her eyes, breathing hard.

It wasn't real it wasn't real it wasn't real they weren't real they didn't say that they would never say that. Xania repeated her mantra in her head until she fell into a state of calm.

_I will come back to you_, she told Wanda and Pietro, wherever they were, _then we'll all be a family_.

_I promise._

Xania thought back to Ave.

_I know that you hated Stark. _She thought, _So did I. So do I. But… I think he may be changing, Ave. I'm not saying that he's a good person, but he's helping a lot of people. And I'll let him, until he doesn't, or until he's served his purpose. And then I will kill him for the both of us, and for Wanda, and Pietro. He destroyed lives, and that can never be forgiven._

_The Avengers - I don't know about them. They seem prejudiced and misled, but they're helping Earth. They helped Sokovia, and they helped Wanda and Pietro. So… the same goes, basically. If they turn bad, they're done._

_That, I promise you._

_I promise._

—-

The day Xania walked outside to a crowd was the day she knew their plan had finally succeeded.

The previous day, she had saved a family from a house that collapsed. The house had been on fire and the entry was covered, so she had teleported in and carried the injured children and a couple out one by one. (Teleporting with them would have been easier, but she wasn't in control of it - yet). She, along with the help of the neighbors, brought the family to the palace healers and made sure they were all alright. She hadn't thought much of it - yes, or was an extreme of what she usually did wearing Loki's skin, but she'd gotten used to, well, saving people. Yes, she was risking her life when she did it, but she could always teleport out… and, well, did she really deserve to live more than anyone else did? No, her mind said definitively, she had committed many crimes - Hydra, Ultron, leaving - leaving them.

It was funny, how Xania used to only think of herself, only want to survive. Before she met the Maximoffs, before she had a purpose… it didn't matter who she hurt. She was the only one. Kind of like Stark… no matter how hard that was to admit.

But now? Now, Xania was making up for her mistakes - not that they could ever be made up for. Maybe it was the Maximoffs, maybe it was the Avengers, maybe it was Asgard, maybe it was all of them, but someone-something had shown Xania that others mattered. That it was better to save an innocent than to save someone like her.

Xania had gotten hit by a falling brick, yesterday, but that didn't matter. She had saved five people. A wound on her side, no matter how much Loki fussed, was worth it.

Loki. Xania smiles at the thought. Others thought of him as a monster, but he was nothing like one. He was just misunderstood. He was much better than Xania, that was for certain. And she had helped him become recognized as the truly good person he was.

'Loki' smiled at the crowd of people. It seemed as if they were all there for him. Some were holding up signs. A family who Xania recognized as one of the neighbors of the family she had saved was holding up a sign that read_, THANK YOU, LOKI!_. A young child was holding up a sign with horns on it that said, _LOKIIIIIIII_. A gaggle of girls were holding up signs that read: I LOVE YOU, LOKI; WILL YOU BE MY VALENTINE?; ? ? ? ? ? ?, and the like. Xania grinned, giving them a wink and wondering what they would think if they knew that the "Loki" they had learned to love was really an almost-thirteen year old girl.

Xania briefly wondered what romantic love felt like, but she quickly pushed that thought away.

She gave the crowd a few more Loki winks and grins, before stepping back inside the palace to find Loki.

It was time.

It was finally _time_.

As they were preparing for the ceremony, Loki reminded Xania of something.

"Time works differently in space." He said, "It's been about a year, here, but on your Migard, it's been two."

Xania nodded. Loki had told her of such a difference before, but she hadn't really thought about it - Wanda and Pietro had been without her for a _year _longer than she'd been without them. It was an odd, and very sad, thought.

But that time was almost over. Loki promised that after the ceremony, they'd go get Wanda and Pietro. Then, all they would have to do was wait a little while for Odin to "die", introduce Xania, and all would be well.

Or so they thought.

"So Wanda and Pietro will be twenty one, and I'll still be only fourteen." Xania said, bringing her mind back, "Got it."

Loki gave her one of his rare _real _smiles.

"I'm excited to meet the other part of your family." He said. Xania gave him a smile back. She was, too. Maybe Wanda and Pietro wouldn't like Loki all to much at first, but they'd warm up to him, like Xania did. Xania's eyebrows scrunched together. Wow… she'd known Loki for what, four, five years now?

It felt like she'd known him forever yet hadn't had enough time with him at all.

But there was no need to be sentimental, she thought was she donned the appearance of Loki and Loki Odin, they'd have all the time in the world, soon enough.

The doors swung open, and the two walked out.

It was time for Loki to be crowned the true heir to the throne - after all, it made sense - he'd been helping out Asgard for ages, now, and, well, where even _was _Thor?

Thor was using Miljoner to fly as fast as he could to the palace.

If the Nine Realms in disarray and the glaring absence of Hiemdall at the Bifrost wasn't worrying enough, the golden statue of Loki at the entrance to Asgard was. Thor knew something was afoot - he just wasn't sure what it was, yet. Had Loki gotten out of whatever punishment Odin had decided for him? Thor suddenly wished he'd stayed long enough to figure out what it had been.

Thor touched down inside a crowd around the front straps of the palace. The people around him only spared him a glance before turning back to the main event - _Loki's ascension to heir to the throne?_

Something was _definitely _up.

Thor took in the scene. His brother was standing in front of Odin, ready to receive a medallion that would make him first in line. Odin looked rather happy for what he was doing, and Loki - well, Loki had one of his signature grins on his face.

There was some sorry of witchcraft going on, and Thor had to put a stop to it.

But first, he would make sure. Just in case something like this was actually happening. After all, he _had _been gone for two years. Well, Migardian years, he supposed.

"Father!" Thor said, pushing through the crowd and walking up the stairs to the palace towards the duo. All eyes turned to him.

Odin's eyes widened, and he cursed under his breath (though only Xania was close enough to hear).

"Ah, greetings, my boy." Odin said, "My son, Thor, has returned! Though we are in the middle of something, as you can see, Thor…"

"Ah, yes, I was just coming to say congratulations." Thor said, "I like the statue, by the way, a lot better looking, a little less weasley, less greasy, maybe."

"I'm right here, _brother_." Loki said, in his full royal outfit.

"Do you know what this is?" Thor asked, holding up what he'd just retrieved.

"Oh, the skull of Surtur!" Odin replied, "A formidable weapon!"

"Do me a favor, lock this away in a vault so it doesn't turn into a giant monster and destroy the planet." Thor said, handing the skull to a nearby guard.

"So, back to Migard, is it?" Odin said, "So you can cease your… interruption?"

Thor flipped Miljoiner, walking closer to Odin and Loki.

"I've been having this recurring dream, lately." Thor said, "Every night I see Asgard falling to ruins."

"That's just a silly dream." Odin countered, quick to shoot the thought down, "Signs of an overactive imagination."

"Possibly." Thor replied, flipping his hammer a few more times during his impromptu speech, "But then I decided to go out there and investigate. What do I find? The Nine Realms completely in chaos, enemies of Asgard assembling, plotting our demise, all while you, Odin, protector of those Nine realms, transfer the power that _you _apparently aren't using, over to your second son - Loki."

"Jealous?" Loki cut in, grinning - but Thor could detect a hint of fear behind those mischievous eyes.

"Well, it is best to respect our neighbor's feelings." Odin said, seeming more and more nervous by the second.

"Yes of course," Thor said, "The freedom to be massacred."

Thor threw his hammer a bit forward into the crowd, watching it rebound like a boomerang (of boomerangs came back in a straight line) back into his hands. There were some gasps.

"Yes." Odin said, "And I've been rather busy myself."

"Planning Loki's ascension to king." Thor said, turning around to face Loki. They were almost toe to toe, now.

"Well, board meetings, security meetings…" Odin said, trying to get Thor's attention back to himself while also trying to get him to change the subject.

Thor stared Loki down. The man in green didn't flinch. Thor briefly tried to find his brother behind those blue-green eyes… but he couldn't.

"You're really going to make me do it." Thor stated, again turning a question into a statement.

"Do what?" Odin and Loki chorused.

With a _whing_ing sound, Thor threw Mjolner far - so far that it went out of sight.

"You know that nothing will stop Mjolner as it turns into my hand, not even your face." Thor said to Loki, cueing many gasps as he held his hand behind his brother's neck.

Mjolner grew from a small speck in the sky to something recognizable, something much, much closer - something coming even more so _fast_.

"You've gone quite mad!" Odin near-shouted from the side of them, "You-you'll be executed for this!"

"Cease your witchcraft on our father at once." Thor said, "Or else I'll see you on the other side, brother."

Xania watched as Mjolner grew closer and closer to her. She did not think - she wasn't thinking at all. She wasn't thinking of Wanda, or what this would do to Loki's plan, or her _life _\- no, she was simply ready to do anything it took to help Loki, to protect him, to make people _understand _him. And if that meant taking a hammer to the head for him, well, Xania was ready to take that deal.

But Loki wasn't.

"Alright I yield!" The so-called Odin said, transforming back into Loki and ramming into Xania, toppling them both over, just in time. Thor caught Mjolnder, staring at the pair, _very_ confused.

The crowd gasped even louder, some taking a step back, or even _dropping _things. Loki stood up, glaring daggers at Thor.

He had almost _killed _his Xania.

He would pay.

"Are you not… the dead witch girl?" Thor asked, his eyebrows scrunching as he tried to remember, before - "Loki, what did you do to her!"

"Nothing!" Xania said, standing up and joining Loki in glaring at Thor, "I am here of my own will!"

"You are… helping my brother… willingly?" Thor asked, everything about him shouting _I do not compute_.

"_Yes_." Xania hissed.

Thor gave Xania a strange glance that stated _what_.

It was then when Scrouge decided to arrive, panting and heaving for breath.

"Behold!" He said, bursting out of the crowd, "Thor, Odinson-"

Loki held his hand up and snapped his fingers, interrupting with, "Nuh-nuh-no." He said, turning, "You had one job!" Scrooge attempted to point to Thor, like _how do you expect me to outrun the guy who can __**fly**_, but Loki ignored him, "Just the one!"

Loki turned back to Thor.

"Where is Odin?" Thor said, deadly serious, having had adequate time to recover.

"You just couldn't stay away, could you?" Loki replied, "Everything was going _fine _\- no, _great_ \- without you. Asgard was prospering, Xania -" He withheld his true thoughts, walking towards his brother instead, "You've ruined everything. Ask them, really-"

"Where's father?" Thor cut in, stalking towards Loki. Loki scrambled back until his back was to the door and he couldn't anymore, "Did you kill h'im?"

"You have what you wanted, you had the independence you asked for-" Loki tried to reason. Thor pressed his hammer to Loki's chest, "Ow ow ow ow ow! Okay, I know exactly where he is."

Out of all of her dreams of what returning to Earth would be like, Xania had never imagined this. She stared at the wreckage in front of her, barely paying attention to Thor and Loki bickering - "I swear I left him right here" - "Right here on the sidewalk or right there where the building's being demolished?". Thor had said that he would bring Xania back to the Avengers - back to Wanda, to Pietro - and that was what Xania had _wanted _\- but it wouldn't be with _Loki_.

Xania wanted to cry. But, as it turned out, she wouldn't get the chance to - a yellow-orange circle of sparks surrounded her and Loki's feet.

"W-w-what are you doing?" Thor asked.

Loki and Xania looked up at him in sync.

"This isn't me."

And then they were falling.

"So I keep a watchlist of individuals and beings from other realms - and even some from this one as well, I suppose - that may be a threat to this world, and your brother Loki is one of them - as well as Xania Maximoff."

"A worthy inclusion - but... why the girl?" Thor said, lifting the giant beer up.

"She is more powerful than you know." Steven Strange replied.

"Hmm." Thor said, taking a sip as if he wasn't considering a million different possibilities.

"Doctor Strange" leaned forward.

"So why bring them here?"

"I have been _falling_ for thirty minutes!"

Xania stared at where Odin - the _real _Odin - had disappeared - died? - , trying to wrap her head around everything that had just happened.

But that wasn't the end of it, no - that was when the girl with antler horns appeared, broke Thor's "unbreakable hammer", and demanded to rule Asgard. Not necessarily in that order.

"Bring us back!" Loki shouted to the sky.

"No!" Thor roared, but it was too late. The three began zooming through the Bifrost - but they were not alone. Hela began to catch up, smirking.

"Loki!" Thor said, looking down at where Hela was only a few meters away from his brother. Loki drew a dagger and threw it at Hela, but she simply caught it and threw it back towards Loki.

Loki was hit out of the Bifrost's rainbow stream, yelling.

"LOKI!" Xania screamed, eyes wide. NonononononononNOnONONONONONNO-

Almost unconsciously, she illusioned herself to be invisible. If Hela had broken Mijolner and taken Loki down so easily… the woman was too powerful to battle face to face.

Not that they could battle much in the Bifrost. Thor was quickly thrown out as well, and then it was just Hela and Xania.

"Where are you, little girl." Hela said. Xania didn't dare risk using her unstable teleportation while they were still in the Bifrost, so she went for creating an illusion on the opposite side of her. Hela threw a dagger into it, though, so Xania made it fall out of the Bifrost as well.

But somehow, Hela _knew_. Somehow, Hela could _sense _that Xania was still there - still _alive_.

Of course - she was the goddess of death, after all.

But Hella didn't care for searching all day. She simply sent what had to be a thousand daggers down, and one was going straight towards Xania - she tried to move out of the way -

But it was all for naught. The dagger flew straight into Xania's stomach and she toppled backwards, out of the Bifrost.

And then she was gone.


End file.
